Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de

(1790-1869)
Born October 21, 1790 in Macon. Childhood and adolescence Lamartine were mostly in rural areas. His lyrical collection of poetic meditations (Mditations potiques, 1820) was a huge success. It is in this book is the first time a poetic expression of those sentiments that conveyed in the prose of Jean Jacques Rousseau, JP Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, F. de Chateaubriand - a vague melancholy, sublime love, yearning, religious ecstasy, merging with nature. More subtly, but less directly Lamartine developed these themes in The Death of Socrates (La Mort de Socrate, 1823) and new poetic musing (Nouvelles Mditations potiques, 1823). In 1830 appeared his poetic and religious harmony (Les Harmonies potiques et religieuses), permeated with the spirit of pantheism.
Dedicated years of diplomatic service, Lamartine left her after the 1830 revolution. His absence was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. Its history of the Girondins (Histoire des girondins, 1847) Lamartine helped to shape public opinion, which led to the February Revolution of 1848. He briefly became Minister of Foreign Affairs and head of the Provisional Government. The coup of Louis Bonaparte put an end to the political career of Lamartine.

Write, he never stopped never. He owns poem Zhoselen (Jocelyn, 1836) and Angels (La Chute d'un ange, 1838), autobiographical novels of Rafael (Raphael, 1849) and Graziella (Graziella, 1852), memoirs, books on history and literature. Died Lamartine in Paris on Feb. 28, 1869.