CHATEAUBRIANT Francois Rene de

(1768-1848)
The younger scion of ancient family, he was born Sept. 4, 1768 in Saint-Malo (Brittany). Childhood years spent near the sea and in a gloomy medieval castle Komburg.
By abandoning a career naval officer, and then the clergyman, in 1768 Chateaubriand became a junior lieutenant in the regiment of Navarre. Inspired by stories of great explorers, he sailed to America, where he spent five months - from July to December 1791. The trip later inspired him to create his major works. Proceedings of the arrest of Louis XVI led Chateaubriand's return to France. Advantageous marrying the girl of his circle, he joined the army of the princes in Koblenz and took part in the siege of Thionville. Recovering from injury, got to England, where he spent seven years, from 1793 to 1800. There he published his first work experience of the revolutions (Essai sur les rvolutions, 1797)

. Returning in 1800 in France under an assumed name, . Chateaubriand in the next year won recognition from the public tale Atal, . Love or two savages in the wilderness (Atala, . ou les amours de deux sauvages dans le dsert, . 1801), . which stands out for its harmonious and beautiful style, . as well as innovative depiction of passion against the backdrop of an exotic life of the indigenous inhabitants of America,
. Originally Chateaubriand intended to include this novel in the treatise Genius of Christianity (Le Gnie du christianisme, 1802), the quintessence of his work, because in later works he either develops or is identified commented stories. The main idea of the treatise is that, of all religions, Christianity - the most poetic and humane, more than any other support freedom, art and literature. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this book for the romantic movement: a whole generation of writers have found in Christianity Geniuses inexhaustible source of literary ideas and inspiration. Tale Rene (Ren, 1802), designed to illustrate the 'vagueness of the passions', for half a century served as a model for the melancholy heroes plagued by disease, subsequently named 'illness of the century' ( 'mal du sicle')

. Not content with literary fame, . Chateaubriand had entered the service of Napoleon, . but after the assassination of the Duc d'Enghien was not afraid to resign and leave politics until the return of the Bourbons, . which had an important service, . having a week before the surrender of the Imperial forces to publish a pamphlet on Bonaparte and the Bourbons (De Buonaparte et des Bourbons, . 1814; rus,
. translated 1814). After the Restoration, Chateaubriand was ambassador in Berlin (1821), London (1822) and Rome (1828), as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1823), provoked a war with Spain. With the accession of Louis Philippe, he finally retired from public life.

In this period saw the publication of his epic Martyrs (Les Martyrs, 1809), tells the story of the conflict between Christianity and paganism at the time of Diocletian. In search of 'local color' for the Martyrs of Chateaubriand made a trip to Greece and the Middle East, telling of his experiences and impressions of incidents in the book Journey from Paris to Jerusalem (Itinraire de Paris Jrusalem, 1811). Notes made by another in America, he reworked in epic Nachezy (Les Natchez, 1826), continue the story of life among the wild Indians, Renц?. For the modern reader the most interest from Chateaubriand's Memoires d'Outre represent his notes (Memoires d'outre tombe), created in 1814-1841, but published shortly after his death in Paris on July 4, 1848. With all its irregularities and questionable reliability of Chateaubriand's memoirs give a vivid picture of the romantic era.