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Some famous figures
Some famous figures
Numerous inhabitants of Paris are illustrious
artists, researchers, writers, politicians, etc. The capital of
charm and light is a veritable hive of intellectuals and creative
types…
Below are some famous Parisian figures who were known variously
for their genius, their charisma, their artistic sense, or simply
for their tenacity.
You can find more information on these and other
famous figures on the free online encyclopaedia:
wikipedia.
Napoléon
© Wikipedia
Napoléon Bonaparte (15th August 1769 –
5th May 1821), General of the Revolution, he governed France
from the end of 1799 and was the first Emperor of France from
1804 to 1814 under the name Napoleon I. He conquered and governed
the larger part of continental Europe and placed his brothers
and his generals on the thrones of several European kingdoms:
Spain, Naples, Westphalia, Holland and Sweden.
Unable to put a stop to the cycle of war that France had been
leading since 1792, conquests adding to conquests, Napoleon saw
his empire crumble barely ten years after its emergence. All that
remains today is the great body of administrative reforms that
were also undertaken by this uncommon man.
Any attempt to write a neutral account of this character is a
bit of a challenge. According to historian Steven Englund, “the
most suitable tone (…) to use when speaking of Napoleon
would be one of admiration bordering on astonishment and one of
constant disapproval bordering on sadness.”
Louis XIV
© Wikipedia
Louis XIV (5th September 1638 – 1st September
1715) was, from the 14th May 1643 until his death, King of France
and Navarre. The third King of France from the house of Bourbon,
of the Capetian dynasty. To this day, no head of state has reigned
longer than he.
Victor HUGO
© Wikipedia
He was born in Besançon
in 1802, but spent his childhood in Paris. He was influenced by
trips to Naples and Spain on which he accompanied his father,
a general. In 1819 he founded a magazine with his brothers, Conservateur
littéraire (the Literary Conservative), which drew attention
to his talent. In the same year, he won the competition of the
Académie des Jeux Floraux. His first collection of poems, Odes, appeared
in 1821, when he was just twenty years old. It was with Cromwell,
published in 1827, that he would make his breakthrough. From 1826
to 1837, he frequently sojourned to the Château des Roches
in Bièvres, owned by Bertin l’Aîné,
director of the Journal des Débats. Over the course of
these visits he would meet Berlioz, Chateaubriand, Liszt, Giacomo
Meyerbeer and compose his famous collection of poems Feuilles
d'Automne (Autumn Leaves).
Under the 2nd Empire, opposed to Napléon
III, he lived in exile in Jersey, then in Guernsey and later in
Brussels. He was one of the only exiles to refuse an amnesty that
was decided on some time afterwards (“and if there remains
only one, then I shall be he”). Distraught at the loss of
his daughter Léopoldine at Villequier in 1843, he recorded
his spiritual experiences in Jersey in a strange work called Les
tables tournantes de Jersey (The Turning Tables of Jersey).
In conformance with his wishes, Hugo’s remains were interred
in the Conformément à ses dernières volontés,
c'est dans le corbillard des pauvres Panthéon. His coffin stayed for several days under
the Arc de Triomphe, during which time an estimated three million
people came to pay him homage for the last time.
Edith PIAF
© Wikipedia
Édith Piaf, born Édith Giovanna
Gassion 19th December 1915 in Paris, died 10th October 1963 in
Plascassier (commune de Grasse), Alpes-Maritimes, France, was
a French chanteuse. Her remains were brought to Paris, where her
death was only announced on the 11th of October, the official
date of her decease.
She was buried in Père Lachaise cemetry in Paris before
an enormous crowd. To this day, her tomb remains one of the most
visited in the entire world. An extraordinary personality, she remains the
most renowned French chanteuse in the world. Pay a visit to the
online exhibition The Conquests of Piaf (
le
music-hall). Her song Hymne à l’amour is the
basis of Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s film Toutes ces belles promesses
with Valérie Crunchant and Jeanne Balibar. Molière, Luc BESSON, Isabelle ADJANI,
Catherine DENEUVE, Michel PLATINI, Gérard Depardieu, Picasso,
Monet, and many others known for their talent, their knowledge
or their innate artistic sense can be learned about on
wikipedia.