Benjamin Constant (25 Oct, 1767 – 8 December, 1830) was a Franco-Swiss political writer and novelist.
Fun Facts about Benjamin Constant:
- Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. His family were descendants of French Huguenots who escaped to Switzerland in the 16th Century.
- His father, Jules Constant de Rebecque, was a high-ranking officer in the Dutch Army, like his grandfather, uncle, and cousin. His mother Henriette-Pauline de Chandieu-Villars, died giving birth to him.
- Mr. Constant was educated in Both Belgium and the Netherlands, and continued his education in Germany’s University of Erlangen, but finished his studies at the University of Edinburgh after being forced to leave due to an affair.
- By 1787 he found himself in Paris, at the home of journalist and writer Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Suard. While there, he met Dutch writer Isabelle de Charrière, who knew his uncle, and allowed him to live with her in Colombier, Switzerland. A woman of letters, she served as his mentor until he started working at the court of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
- Benjamin Constant’s second wife, Germaine de Staël, was already famous and wealthy when they met. Their intellectual collaboration for 16 years, starting in 1795, is one of the most successful collaborations by a couple of the time. Later he fell in love with Madame Récamier a married French socialite, who became the love of his life.
- He secretly married Caroline van Hardenberg in 1808, while in Germany, and by 1814 they moved to Paris.
- In 1814, as a member of the Council of State, Benjamin Constant proposed a constitutional monarchy, while Louis XVIII was sitting on the throne.
- After the Battle of Waterloo, Benjamin Constant and his wife moved to London, but two years later, in 1817, the same year his ex-wife Madame de Staël died, he was back in Paris.
- Mr. Constant was elected to the lower legislative house of the French Restoration-era government, the Chamber of Deputies. As an eloquent speaker, he soon became the leader of the Independents block (the liberals).
- The novel Adolphe by Benjamin Constant is considered to be the forerunner of the modern psychological novel. This was the only novel published during his lifetime.
Zohar – Man of la Book
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Sources:
Benjamin Constant: French author | Britannica
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Fun Facts Friday: Benjamin Constant
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Benjamin Constant (25 Oct, 1767 – 8 December, 1830) was a Franco-Swiss political writer and novelist.
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