Merimee Prosper: biography, interesting facts, creativity, death

Prosper Merimee, whose biography and work are presented in this article, is one of the brightest novelists of the 19th century. Due to his education, he was markedly different from his contemporary French writers. But the stereotypical life in the center of civilization could not attract such an inquisitive and energetic person as Prosper Merimee was. Biography of the creator of "Carmen" contains several years spent far from home. Most of the works he devoted to the inhabitants of the provincial towns of Spain and France.

early years

Prosper Merimee, whose brief biography is described below, was not only a talented writer and playwright, but also a researcher, wrote several works on the history of antiquity, made a significant contribution to the culture of France.

He was born at the very beginning of the nineteenth century. From his father, the future writer inherited skepticism and a love of creativity. As a child, I did not think about studying literature Prosper Merimee. A brief biography of him records the years of study at the Faculty of Law. After graduation, he was appointed inspector of historical monuments. But if you believe biographers, it was when he was a student, he realized that his real vocation is philology. He studied English, Greek, and Spanish. And in order to read in the original Pushkin, the French novelist, being a fan of the poet's work, mastered the Russian language.

The beginning of the creative path

How did Prosper Merimee begin his literary career? His biography, as a rule, mentions the collection of plays "The Clara Gazul Theater", with which he allegedly began his creative career. In fact, the first dramatic work the French classic created earlier.

Prosper was barely nineteen when, at the trial of his colleagues and friends (including Stendhal), he presented a rather brave play for those times. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, French dramatic art began to be burdened with rigid canons of classicism. But even in such conditions the work of the beginning playwright seemed to colleagues extremely brave, unusual. They approved the play written by young Prosper Merimee. His biography still speaks of a later literary debut. The work that was extremely pleased Stendhal, Merimee decided not to publish, because he considered it far from perfection.

Inspector of Historical Monuments

Thanks to this position, Prosper Merimee, whose biography tells of numerous trips, had the opportunity to travel a lot around the country. But he learned to enjoy provincial landscapes later, at a more mature age. And after the university, Merimee published a collection of plays called "The Clara Gasul Theater." But he published it under a pseudonym.

Clara Gasul

Who characterized the contemporaries of the writer and playwright by the name of Prosper Merimee? His biography says that among the friends this outstanding personality stood out. Merimee loved not only travel and adventure, but also hoaxes. So, the first collection, published by him, was signed by a woman's name. And on the cover there was a portrait of Merimee, but in female form.

Iakinf Maglanovich

What else can the biography of Prosper Merimee tell? Interesting facts refer to the early periods of his life. If his first collection Merimee published under the name of a certain Clara Gazul, then on the cover of the second book one could see the pseudonym Iakinf Maglanovic. It was a collection of Illyrian ballads called "Gusli", which tells of witches, vampires and other devilry. The book has done a lot of noise in Europe, today it is considered a clever and witty imitation of folk poetry of the Western Slavs.

Historical Literature

Later, Merimee published books already under his own name. He presented to readers the works on the historical theme - "Jacquerie" and "The Chronicle of the Times of Charles XIX". And then Merimee carried away his admirers to distant countries. The novel "Matteo Falcone" is a cruel story from the Corsican life. "Taking redoubt" - a work devoted to the persistence of Russians in the war with Napoleon. And, finally, "Tamango" is an indignant story about the trade of African slaves.

At court

In 1830, Merimee traveled extensively in the dear heart of Spain. Here he met with Count de Teba and his wife. Their daughter - Eugene - later became the French Empress. The girl from the early years had a warm feeling for Merim. So the writer eventually became "his" at court. By the age of forty he was awarded the rank of senator and enjoyed the complete confidence of Napoleon III. Politics and career could not play a paramount role in the life of Prosper Merimee, but took a lot of time. Perhaps that is why he wrote only three works in ten years.

Georges Sand

In 1844 the novel "Arsen Guyau" was published. In it, the author showed the moral superiority of a fallen woman over an aristocrat, which caused a great scandal in society. The reason for the gossip was the novel Merimee with the writer George Sand. He courted her for two years. And yet he was able to awaken in the soul of an emancipated and disappointed in a man a woman's feelings. But this novel had no continuation. Subsequently, Merimee argued that the complete lack of modesty in his lover killed in him every desire.

Carmen

In 1845, the most famous work of Merimee was published. "Carmen" was the basis of the famous opera of the same name. In the story we are talking about the passionate love of a former officer, and now a smuggler named Jose, to the cunning and cruel Gypsy woman Carmensite. In the work, Merimee paid special attention to the customs and customs of the freedom-loving people. A girl who does not want to submit, kills Jose. Novella Merimee was screened many times. In the opinion of literary critics, this theme of the French writer inspired after reading Pushkin's poem "The Gypsies". But it is worth saying that Merimee managed to create an image that is as strong as Don Quixote or Hamlet.

Last years

The last twenty years, Merimee almost did not create works of art. He devoted himself to literary activity. He was engaged in translations, wrote several works devoted to Gogol, Pushkin. It is Merimee who is obliged to read French readers by acquaintance with Russian literature. In 1861 he published a journalistic work on peasant uprisings in Russia. Among other books, the theme of which affects Russian culture: "Episode from Russian History", "Ivan Turgenev", "Nikolay Gogol".

Other works

Merimee created six dramatic works and more than twenty novels. In addition, he published several works on travel. Novels of Prosper Merimee:

• Federigo.
• "Party in Backgammon."
• "Letters from Spain."
• The Etruscan Vase.
• "Souls of Purgatory".
• "A double mistake."
• The Venus of Ilskaya.
• "Abbot Aubin".
• "Colomba".

Among the works written by Merimee for the theater, it is necessary to name "Enchanted Gun", "Dissatisfied", "Debut of the Adventurer".

"Lokis" - the last work, which was published by Prosper Merimee.

Biography (death)

In 1870, in Cannes, the great French writer Prosper Merimee passed away. On his gravestone there is a sign with the inscription: "With love and apologies. George Sand. " After the death of the writer, two more of his novels came out: "The Blue Room", "Juman". And even after five years the world with admiration listened to the dramatic history of the gypsy, embodied by Beze in music.