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Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (; 10 May 1760 – 26 June 1836) was a French army officer of the
French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
. Lisle is known for writing the words and music of the , which would later be known as and become the French
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
.


Early life

Rouget de Lisle was born at Lons-le-Saunier, reputedly on a market day. His parents lived in the neighbouring village of Montaigu. A plaque was placed at the precise spot of his birth and a statue erected in the town's center in 1882. He was the eldest son of Claude Ignace Rouget (5 April 1735 – 6 August 1792) at Orgelet and Jeanne Madeleine Gaillande (2 July 1734 – 20 March 1811).Family Tree Rouget
/ref> In 1784, he was initiated into "Les Frères discrets", a
masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...
in Charleville, just after being promoted officer.


Career

He enlisted into the army as an engineer and attained the rank of captain. A royalist like his father, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new constitution.Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Richard Stockton, Nathan Haskell Dole, Julian Hawthorne, Caroline Ticknor: ''The World's Great Masterpieces'' (American Literary Society, 1901)
p. 9577
Rouget de Lisle was cashiered and thrown into prison in 1793, narrowly escaping the guillotine. He was freed during the Thermidorian Reaction and retired to Montague.


La Marseillaise

The song that has immortalized him, "La Marseillaise", was composed at
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, where Rouget de Lisle was garrisoned in April 1792. However, another composition with the same tune was composed 11 years before by the Italian composer Giovan Battista Viotti at the court of
Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
. France had just declared war on Austria, and the mayor of Strasbourg and worshipful master of the local masonic lodge,
baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich, held a dinner for the officers of the garrison, at which he lamented that France had no national anthem. Rouget de Lisle returned to his quarters and wrote the words in a fit of patriotic excitement. The piece was at first called ("War Song for the
Army of the Rhine An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
") and only received its name of ''Marseillaise'' from its adoption by the Provençal volunteers whom Barbaroux introduced into Paris and who were prominent in the storming of the Tuileries Palace on 10 August 1792.''The New York Times Current History: The European War'', Volume 16, 1918
p. 200
After the war, Rouget de Lisle wrote a few other songs of the same kind as the "Marseillaise", and in 1825 he published ''Chants français'' (''French Songs'') in which he set to music fifty poems by various authors. His ''Essais en vers et en prose'' (''Essays in Verse and Prose'', 1797) contains the ''Marseillaise''; a
prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
tale ''Adelaide et Monville'' of the sentimental kind; and some occasional poems. He returned to public life after the
July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...
and was awarded the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
by
Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...
.


Death

Rouget de Lisle died in poverty in Choisy-le-Roi, Val de Marne.Norman Davies: ''Europe: A history'', p. 718. His mortal remains were transferred from Choisy-le-Roi cemetery to the Invalides on 14 July 1915, during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.Tribute to Composer
'' The Argus'', 16 July 1915, p. 7, at Trove.


Notes


References


Sources

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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rouget De Lisle, Claude Joseph 1760 births 1836 deaths 18th-century French classical composers 18th-century French poets 18th-century French male musicians 18th-century French male writers 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French poets 19th-century French male musicians Knights of the Legion of Honour French Classical-period composers French Freemasons French male classical composers French prisoners and detainees French Romantic composers National anthem writers People from Jura (department) People of the French Revolution Prisoners and detainees of France