Henri Beyle, Stendhal

Henri Beyle, Stendhal

Born in Grenoble Jan. 23, 1783 and died in Paris on March 23, 1842, Henri Beyle, also known as Stendhal, spent the first 16 years of his life in Grenoble as part of a well to do family. His mother died when he was seven years old and the young Stendhal revolted against the "tyranny" of care takers and his father.
He would know the happiest moments of his young life in the company of his grandfather, doctor Henri Gagnon, a man of the Enlightenment. His autobiography, Life of Henry Brulard, written from 1835-1836 recounts his childhood in the Dauphiné.

Stendhal participated in the Napoleonic campaigns in Italy and Russia, in the ranks of the emperor. He held the position of bailiff in Germany. He got his pen name from a city in this country, which he used for the first time with the publication of Rome, Naples, and Florence.

Fascinated by Italy, this country would become his adopted home country where he could satisfy his taste for art and beauty.

Traveler and sociologist before his time, he left us descriptions of landscapes, society, and the morals of the people he met in Memories of a Tourist (1838) and Promenades in Rome (1829). Named as consul in 1830 first in Trieste then Civitavecchia, he continued to observe the world in which he lived. Little known during his lifetime, Stendhal only saw the publication of a few of his works such as Armance (1827), The Red and The Black (1830) and The Charterhouse of Parma (1839).

 

Champollion, an Egyptomaniac Dauphinois

Champollion, an Egyptomaniac Dauphinois

At the end of the 19th century, Grenoble is in full Egyptomania. The Préfet Fourrier started the movement, followed by Doctor Gagnon.

Jean François Champollion was born in Figeac, in the Valbonnais area in 1790. Following his older brother, he went to Grenoble to study Middle Eastern languages. After having begun deciphering hieroglyphics in 1807, he held a post as chair of history at the University of Grenoble. Named to the Louvre in Paris, he fulfilled his dream of leading an expedition to Egypt, where he was named to the College of France in 1831.  

His "frenzied dauphinois" energy ran out early on, however, and he died in 1832. The city's vestiges from this egyptomaniac period are today visible in the Museum of Grenoble, where you can also find a statue of Champollion created by Bartholdi.

 

Pierre Terrail, lord of Bayard (1475, 1524)

Pierre Terrail, lord of Bayard

« Without fear and beyond reproach, » Pierre Terrail was born in Pontcharra, 30 km from Grenoble. Born into a family of the lower nobility, Bayard served as page in the court of Charles I the Warrior, Duke of Savoy.

Excellent knight and swordsman, he was called to the service of kings Charles VIII, Louis XII, and François I. He participated in all the Italian campaigns, becoming Lieutenant General of the Dauphiné.

After the victory in Marignan in 1515, he knighted François I. He died in combat in Romagnano, Italy.

Bayard still perfectly symbolizes the knightly spirit.

His statue, which Stendhal made fun of, reigns over Saint André Square in Grenoble.

 

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

Born in La Côte Saint André in 1803, Hector Berlioz discovered music very early on thanks to the education bestowed upon him by his father. He pursued his studies in medicine in Paris and decided to dedicate himself entirely to music and enrols in the conservatory in 1823.

A romantic composer, he wrote Symphonie Fantastique in 1830, then his famous Requiem.

A friend of Franz Liszt, he drew inspiration from literary works. Hector Berlioz travelled throughout Europe, England, Italy, and Russia, where his opera Les Troyens is a great success.

He died in Paris in 1869. During his lifetime, the French public was not a fan of his work. The Berlioz Festival in la Côte Saint André pays honor to him every year at the end of August.

 

Jacques de Vaucanson 1709-1782

Jacques de Vaucanson

Son of a glove maker, this genial mechanic invented the automatic weaving machine and machine tools.

He also developed automatons, of which the most famous are a duck, a flute player, and a drummer.

 Vaucanson was also a member of the Academy of Sciences and contributed to the creation of the National Conservatory of Arts and Trades.

A museum is dedicated to automatons in Grenoble.

 

Antoine Barnave 1761-1793

Antoine Barnave

Born into a bourgeois Protestant family in Grenoble, he became a lawyer and supported the independence of the Dauphiné parliament during the Day of the Tiles in 1788.

He was elected as representative of the Third Estate along with Joseph Mounier during the convocation of the General States.

Elected mayor of Grenoble then President of the Constituting Assembly, he tried to save the monarchy against Robespierre, notably in Varennes.

Imprisoned in 1792 in the Bastille in Grenoble, then at the Conciergerie in Paris, Barnave was guillotined in 1793.

 

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