Remy de Gourmont(1858-1915)
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French poet and novelist Remy de Gourmont was born in the Normandy town of Bazoches-en-Houlme in 1858. His father came from a long line of printers and engravers, and his mother was descended from the 16th-century French poet François de Malherbe. He received his education at the University of Caen, and in 1883 got a job in Paris at the National Library.
He became a follower of the "Symbolist" movement in French poetry, and was strongly influenced by Stephane Mallarme. He began to move in literary circles, and eventually he and J.K. Huymans met, and they co-founded and became co-editors of "Mercure de France". Unfortunately, an article he wrote for the magazine in 1891 caught the attention of French nationalists who considered it "pro-German", and the resulting furor caused the publication to fire him. A further series of personal and professional setbacks resulted in his becoming almost a "hermit", venturing out into the "outside world" only occasionally, and then just briefly.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 turned him from a moderate leftist into a firebrand--and at times violent--anti-German nationalist. Shortly after the war started he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and died in 1915.
He became a follower of the "Symbolist" movement in French poetry, and was strongly influenced by Stephane Mallarme. He began to move in literary circles, and eventually he and J.K. Huymans met, and they co-founded and became co-editors of "Mercure de France". Unfortunately, an article he wrote for the magazine in 1891 caught the attention of French nationalists who considered it "pro-German", and the resulting furor caused the publication to fire him. A further series of personal and professional setbacks resulted in his becoming almost a "hermit", venturing out into the "outside world" only occasionally, and then just briefly.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 turned him from a moderate leftist into a firebrand--and at times violent--anti-German nationalist. Shortly after the war started he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and died in 1915.