Frederic Stendhal - short biography. Stendhal: biography and creativity

Frederic Stendhal is the literary pseudonym of Henri Marie Bayle, a famous French writer who is one of the founders of the genre psychological novel, one of the most prominent writers France XIX V. During his lifetime, he gained fame less as a writer of fiction and more as a writer of books telling about Italian sights. Born on January 23, 1783 in Grenoble.

His father, a wealthy lawyer who lost his wife early (Henri Marie was 7 years old), did not pay enough attention to raising his son.

As a pupil of Abbot Ralyan, Stendhal became imbued with antipathy towards religion and the church. Passion for the works of Holbach, Diderot and other enlightenment philosophers, as well as the First French Revolution, had a huge impact on the formation of Stendhal's views. For the rest of his life, he remained faithful to revolutionary ideals and defended them as resolutely as none of his fellow writers who lived in the 19th century did.

For three years, Henri studied at the Central School of Grenoble, and in 1799 he went to Paris, intending to become a student at the Ecole Polytechnique. However, Napoleon's coup made such a strong impression on him that he enlisted in the active army. Young Henri found himself in the Italian North, and this country remained forever in his heart. In 1802, filled with disappointment in Napoleon's policies, he resigned, settled for three years in Paris, read a lot, becoming a regular at literary salons and theaters, while dreaming of a career as a playwright. In 1805 he again found himself in the army, but this time as a quartermaster. Accompanying troops on military campaigns until 1814, he, in particular, took part in the battles of Napoleonic army in Russia in 1812.

Having a negative attitude towards the return of the monarchy in the person of the Bourbons, Stendhal resigned after the defeat of Napoleon and moved to Italian Milan for seven years, where his first books appeared: “The Life of Haydn, Mozart and Metastasio” (published in 1817), as well as research “Rome, Naples and Florence” and the two-volume “History of Painting in Italy”.

The persecution of the Carbonari that began in the country in 1820 forced Stendhal to return to France, but rumors about his “suspicious” connections served him badly, forcing him to behave extremely carefully. Stendhal collaborates with English magazines without signing the publication with his name. A number of works appeared in Paris, in particular, the treatise “Racine and Shakespeare” published in 1823, which became the manifesto of the French romantics. These years in his biography were quite difficult. The writer was filled with pessimism, his financial situation depended on occasional earnings, and he wrote a will more than once during this time.

When the July Monarchy was established in France, in 1830 Stendhal had the opportunity to enter the civil service. King Louis appointed him consul to Trieste, but unreliability allowed him to take this position only in Civita Vecchia. For him, who had an atheistic worldview, sympathized with revolutionary ideas, and composed works imbued with the spirit of protest, it was equally difficult for him to live in both France and Italy.

From 1836 to 1839, Stendhal was in Paris on a long vacation, during which his last famous novel, “The Abode of Parma,” was written. During his next vacation, this time short, he came to Paris for literally a few days, and there he suffered a stroke. This happened in the fall of 1841, and on March 22, 1842 he died. Recent years lives were overshadowed by a difficult physical condition, weakness, and inability to work fully: this is how syphilis manifested itself, which Stendhal contracted in his youth. Unable to write himself and dictating texts, Henri Marie Bayle continued to compose until his death.

Years of life: from 01/23/1783 to 03/23/1842

The greatest Frenchman, unrecognized during his lifetime writer XIX century, author of the novels “Red and Black”, “The Parma Monastery”, “Lucien Levene”.

Real name: Henri-Marie Bayle.

Born in Grenoble (France) in the family of a wealthy lawyer Chérubin Bayle. His grandfather was a doctor and public figure, and like most of the French intelligentsia of that time, he was keen on the ideas of the Enlightenment and was an admirer of Voltaire. Stendhal's father was fond of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. But the family's views changed significantly with the beginning of the revolution, the family had a fortune and the deepening of the revolution frightened it. Stendhal's father was even forced to go into hiding.

The writer's mother, Henrietta Bayle, died early. At first, Serafi’s aunt and his father were involved in raising the boy, but since his relationship with his father did not work out, his upbringing was left to the Catholic abbot Ralyan. This led Stendhal to hate both the church and religion. Secretly from his teacher, under the influence of the views of his grandfather Henri Gagnon, the only relative who treated Henri with kindness, he began to become acquainted with the works of enlightenment philosophers (Cabanis, Diderot, Holbach). The impressions he received during his childhood from the First French Revolution shaped the worldview of the future writer. He retained his affection for revolutionary ideals throughout his life.

In 1797, Stendhal entered the Central School in Grenoble, the purpose of which was to introduce public education in the republic instead of religious education, and provide the younger generation with knowledge of the ideology of the bourgeois state. Here Henri became interested in mathematics.

At the end of the course he was sent to Paris to join the Ecole Polytechnique, but he never got there, joining Napoleon's army in 1800, in which he served for more than two years, and then returned to Paris in 1802 with the dream of becoming a writer.

After living in Paris for three years, studying philosophy, literature and English language In 1805, Stendhal returned to serve in the army, with which he entered Berlin in 1806 and Vienna in 1809. In 1812, Stendhal, of his own free will, took part in Napoleon’s campaign in Russia. Flees from Moscow along with the remnants of the army to France, retaining memories of heroism Russian people, which he showed in defending his homeland and resisting French troops.

In 1814, after the fall of Napoleon and the capture of Paris by Russian troops, Stendhal traveled to Italy and settled in Milan, where he lived almost continuously for seven years. Life in Italy left a deep mark on Stendhal’s work, playing a large role in shaping the writer’s views. He enthusiastically studies Italian art, painting, and music. Italy inspired him for a number of works, and he wrote his first books - “The History of Painting in Italy”, “Walks in Rome”, the short story “Italian Chronicle”. Finally, Italy gave him the plot of one of his greatest novels, “The Parma Monastery,” which he wrote in 52 days.

One of his early works is the psychological treatise “On Love,” which was based on his unrequited love for Matilda, Countess Dembowski, whom he met while living in Milan and who died early, leaving a mark on the writer’s memory.

In Italy, Henri becomes close to the Carbonari Republicans, which is why he is watched with suspicion. Not feeling safe in Milan, Stendhal returned to France, where he wrote unsigned articles for English magazines. In 1830, after entering the civil service, Stendhal became consul in the papal estates in Civita Vecchia.

In the same year, the novel “Red and Black” was published, which became the pinnacle of the writer’s work. In 1834, Stendhal began writing the novel Lucien-Leven, which remained unfinished.

In 1841 he suffered his first stroke of apoplexy. Stendhal died, unrecognized by his contemporaries, in 1842 after a second stroke of apoplexy, during his next visit to Paris. The coffin with the body was accompanied to the cemetery by only three of his close friends.

On the tombstone, as he requested, were carved the words: “Henri Bayle. Milanese. Lived, wrote, loved.”

Information about the works:

Stendhal is the name of the German city in which the famous 18th century German art critic Winckelmann was born.

Bibliography

Novels:
- Armans (1827)
- (1830)
- (1835) - unfinished
- (1839)
- Lamiel (1839–1842) - unfinished

Novels:
- Rose et le Vert (1837) - unfinished
- Mina de Vanghel (1830)
- (1837–1839) - includes the short stories “Vanina Vanini”, “Vittoria Accoramboni”, “The Cenci Family”, “Duchess de Paliano”, etc.

Frederic Stendhal, biography

"Life and creative path Frederic Stendhal"

The real name of the writer is Henri Marie Bayle. He was born in Grenoble in the south of France into the family of a lawyer. When the writer was 7 years old, he lost his mother. The father was a very callous and rude person, so the boy’s gentle nature was drawn to his maternal grandfather, who instilled in the boy the ideals of enlightenment: a thirst for knowledge and service to his homeland, a love of art and literature.

At the age of 13, the boy was sent to study at the Grenoble central school, where he was predicted to have a future as an engineer, because... abilities for mathematics and other exact sciences were clearly expressed. The personality of Napoleon, who rose from the bottom of society, had a great influence on young Henri; this example played a major role in the fact that the young man joined Napoleon’s army, with whom he traveled to many countries: Germany, Poland, Austria, Russia. After the fall of Napoleon, the Restoration period began: the aristocrats regained power and tried to restore the old order, i.e. your privileges. They persecuted Napoleon's like-minded people, so Stendhal was forced to leave his homeland and emigrate to Italy, where his literary activity, at first he wrote books about the art of Italy. Although this country was foreign to Bayle, it became another homeland for him; moreover, the action of his largest novels takes place in Italy. He was simply delighted with this country: Italian opera, Cimarosa's music and Correggio's paintings. Stendhal was delighted with the Italians and their temperament, considering it more natural than the French. Italy, especially Rome and Milan, fell in love with him so much that he even offered to carve the words on his gravestone: “Enrico Beyle, Milanese” (“Enrico Beyle, Milanese”). He also loved Italian women, and from that time on his whole life was simply a memoir of love adventures in Italy. Returning to France, he begins to write works of art: “Armans”, “Vanina Vanini”, “Red and Black”. In 1830, He again travels to Italy, this time as a French consul, to the town of Civita Vecchia, where he continues to write the novel “The Monastery of Parma.” Sudden death from a heart attack on March 22, 1842 prevented the completion of two novels, Lucien Levene and Lamiel.

However, the writer did not immediately become famous and loved; the path to the top of literature was long and thorny. Stendhal said that he wrote for only a few, and that fame would come to him only after 1880. And he turned out to be right. Most likely, his main problem was the inconsistency with the stereotypes of the literary time and genre in which he worked. His passion for individuals who put themselves in the absolute, such as Napoleon, did not correspond to the canons of that time, but he could not be called a romanticist either. Stendhal lacked the epic scope of Hugo and the sentimentality of Lamartine. And only when these geniuses of the pen left the stage, it became clearly visible what the peculiarity of Stendhal’s works was, his strong point was psychological realism.

Two thematic lines can be traced in Stendhal's work:

Modern French reality after the Great French Revolution (works: “Armans”, “Lucien Levene”, “Red and Black”.
Italy (books about art “Vanina Vanini”, “Parma Monastery”).

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Frederic Stendhal is the literary pseudonym of Marie-Henri Beyle, a famous French writer who is one of the founders of the psychological novel genre and one of the most prominent writers of France in the 19th century. During his lifetime, he gained fame less as a writer of fiction and more as a writer of books telling about Italian sights. Born on January 23, 1783 in Grenoble. His father, a wealthy lawyer who lost his wife early (Henri Marie was 7 years old), did not pay enough attention to raising his son.

As a pupil of Abbot Ralyan, Stendhal became imbued with antipathy towards religion and the church. A passion for the writings of Holbach, Diderot and other Enlightenment philosophers, as well as the First French Revolution, had a huge impact on the formation of Stendhal's views. For the rest of his life, he remained faithful to revolutionary ideals and defended them as resolutely as none of his fellow writers who lived in the 19th century did.

From 1836 to 1839, Stendhal was in Paris on a long vacation, during which his last famous novel, “The Abode of Parma,” was written. During his next vacation, this time short, he came to Paris for literally a few days, and there he suffered a stroke. This happened in the fall of 1841, and on March 23, 1842 he died. The last years of his life were overshadowed by a difficult physical condition, weakness, and inability to work fully: this is how syphilis manifested itself, which Stendhal contracted in his youth. Unable to write himself and dictating texts, Henri Marie Bayle continued to compose until his death.

Stendhal- famous French writer, one of the founders of the psychological novel. In his works, Stendhal masterfully described the emotions and character of his heroes.

At a young age, Stendhal had to meet the Jesuit Ryan, who encouraged the boy to read the holy books of Catholics. However, getting to know Ryanom better, Stendhal began to experience distrust and even disgust for church ministers.

When Stendhal turned 16, he went to the Polytechnic School.

However, inspired by the French Revolution and the actions of Napoleon, he decides to join the army.

Soon, not without outside help, Stendhal was transferred to serve in the north of Italy. Once in this country, he was fascinated by its beauty and architecture.

It was there that Stendhal wrote the first works in his biography. It is worth noting that he wrote many works about Italian landmarks.

Later, the writer presented the book “Biographies of Haydn and Metastasio,” in which he described in detail the biographies of great composers.

He publishes all his works under the pseudonym Stendhal.

Soon Stendhal became acquainted with the secret society of the Carbonari, whose members criticized the current government and promoted the ideas of democracy.

In this regard, he had to be very careful.

Over time, rumors began to appear that Stendhal had close ties with the Carbonari, and therefore he was forced to urgently return to France.

Works of Stendhal

Five years later, the novel “Armans” was published, written in the style of realism.

After this, the writer presented the story “Vanina Vanini,” which tells about the love of a rich Italian woman for an arrested carbonari.

In 1830, he wrote one of the most famous novels in his biography, “Red and Black.” Today it is included in the mandatory school curriculum. Many films and TV series were made based on this work.

In the same year, Stendhal became consul in Trieste, after which he worked in Civitavecchia (a city in Italy) in the same position.

By the way, he will work here until his death. During this period, he wrote an autobiographical novel, “The Life of Henri Brulard.”

After this, Stendhal worked on the novel “The Parma Monastery”. An interesting fact is that he managed to write this work in just 52 days.

Personal life

In Stendhal's personal life, not everything was as smooth as in the literary field. And although he had many romance novels with different girls, eventually they all stopped.

It is worth noting that Stendhal, in general, did not seek to get married, since he connected his life only with literature. As a result, he never left any offspring.

Death

Stendhal spent the last years of his life in serious illness. Doctors discovered he had syphilis, so he was forbidden to leave the city.

Over time, he became so weak that he could no longer hold a pen in his hands on his own. To write his works, Stendhal used the help of stenographers.

A few days before his death, he was allowed to travel to Paris to say goodbye to his loved ones.

Stendhal died on March 23, 1842 while walking. He was 59 years old. The official cause of death was listed as stroke, which was already the second in a row.

The writer is buried in Paris at the Montmartre cemetery. An interesting fact is that shortly before his death, Stendhal asked to write the following phrase on his tombstone: “Arrigo Bayle. Milanese. He wrote, he loved, he lived.”

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