Boussenard biography. Continuing the path in the literary field

Louis Henri Boussenard- French classic of adventure literature.

The parents of the future novelist were Louis-Antoine Boussenard (1794-1855), manager of the Ecrennes castle, collector of municipal taxes, widower, and Héloïse Lens (1826-1932) - a young castellan and maid of the castle, the daughter of a weaver-craftsman. Fortunately for the boy, who received the name Henri-Louis-François-Hilaire at birth, three years later his parents got married, and their child began to bear the surname Boussenard.

Widowed in 1855, Héloise was forced to raise two sons alone (Louis was 8 years old, his younger brother Antoine was five). At the Ecrenne school, young Louis Boussenard was distinguished by his intelligence, diligence in his studies, and at the same time his proud and obstinate character. In 1860-1867, he received a humanities education at the Borieux boarding house in Pithiviers, after which he entered the medical faculty of the University of Paris.

From a young age, his favorite leisure activity was hunting; when he came to his native village on vacation, he loved to wander through the Beauceron forests with a gun and a dog.

His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. As a student, Boussenard was not subject to mobilization, but, being a passionate patriot, he volunteered for the army. Medical student Boussenard was enlisted as a military paramedic in an active unit and soon found himself on the eastern front, where he was present, realizing his powerlessness, during the defeat of the French troops near Wisamburg and Reishofen. Having retreated as part of the active army to Paris, Boussenard stoically endures the harsh trials of the siege, deprivation and hunger, and artillery fire. During the heroic and unsuccessful attempt of the French to break the blockade of Champigny on the night of December 1–2, 1870, the military paramedic Boussenard received a bullet wound. The bitterness of defeat will remain in his heart for the rest of his life; he will return to memories of the war more than once in his work.

After the war, Boussenard continued his medical education for some time, but soon he finally broke with the profession and took up literature. The earliest discovered newspaper publications by Boussenaard (several scientific reviews) date back to May-June 1876. In subsequent years, he worked as a reporter and chronicler for various Parisian newspapers.

Presumably in 1875, Boussenard made his first trip - to Australia and Indonesia, where he would stay for about three months. And in April 1878, the newly opened “Journal of Travels” (Journal des Voyages) began publishing Louis Boussenard’s first novel, “Across Australia.”

His second novel, “A Young Parisian's Round the World Trip,” published in 54 issues of the Travel Journal (1879-1880), and then as a separate book, makes the author truly famous.

As a reward for his success, the Journal of Travel, whose main star Boussenard would remain for 32 years until the end of his life, subsidized his trip to Guiana. Boussenard spends five months in Guiana, venturing into the jungle, exploring river beds, sleeping in Indian huts, meeting gold miners, writing for the Journal of Travel, and outlining his new novel, The Guiana Robinsons. From Guiana he brought items of native life, ceramics, weapons (part of this collection is kept in the museum of the city of Pithiviers), hunting trophies, dozens of drawings and photographs, tropical plants (which decorated the garden of his native home), documentary information and maps, which made him a major specialist in Guiana at that time.

The third novel is also received by the public with great enthusiasm. Boussenard has found the formula for his success, he no longer needs to earn a living through the hard work of a reporter, he leaves noisy Paris and settles in the province, in the vicinity of the Loiret department, the dear province of Beauce, not far from his native Ecrenne, where his mother lives. A recent journalist and tireless traveler, he becomes a “gentleman farmer and homebody” (as defined by biographer and researcher of his work Thierry Chevrier), sometimes making short trips between writing new novels (to Morocco, Florida, Sierra Leone) and spending the winter months on the Mediterranean coast France.

Since 1883, his beloved and faithful life partner, Albertine Delafoy (1863-1910), has been with him. Boussenard and Albertine, whom he lovingly called “my dove,” would live happily together for 27 years, until the end of their days, and nothing would darken their serene relationship. Boussenard writes books, Albertine plays music, rewrites manuscripts of new novels, they are often seen among the Beauceron fields on a two-seater bicycle.

Boussenard left a very rich literary heritage. The bibliography, carefully compiled by Thierry Chevrier, includes 38 novels (he considers “Ten Thousand Years Among the Ice” and “The Adventures of Bamboche” as parts of “The Secrets of Monsieur Synthesis” and “The Secret of Germaine”, respectively), three large documentary works, and also more than two dozen essays and stories.

Writing action-packed novels based on geographical material (as well as science fiction and history), that is, focusing primarily on a young audience, the writer felt that he could not express himself fully, being constrained by the boundaries of the genre. Apparently, this is why at the age of 55 he suddenly returns to journalistic activity. In the regional weekly "Gatinet", under the pseudonym "François Devin", from 1902 to 1910 he published his "Letters of a Peasant", written in the Beauceron dialect. In these 205 passages, he, often in a mocking, clownish tone, expresses his views on society, politics, religion, illuminates the problems of rural life in the province of Orleans, setting himself the goal of stirring up the minds of the peasants and showing the common people how they are being robbed by the rich.

The writer's end was tragic. In June 1910, at the age of 46, his beloved wife Albertine suddenly fell ill and died. Broken by unbearable grief, this powerful athlete is unable to resist the worsening illness...

Louis Boussenard dies on September 9 of the same year (the date commonly indicated as September 11 is erroneous), having outlived his wife by less than three months. A few days before his death, the inevitability and proximity of which he, as a doctor, is well aware of, Boussenard himself draws up a will (according to which all his manuscripts and personal papers were subsequently burned) and even the text of the death notice, which gave rise to false rumors of suicide (actively circulating in Russian-language Internet to this day). The writer was buried next to Albertine in the cemetery of their home village of Ecrenne.

Russian translations of Boussenaard's novels appeared, as a rule, immediately after the publication of his new books in France. In 1911, a collection of works by Louis Boussinard in 40 volumes was published as a supplement to the magazine “Nature and People” (St. Petersburg). Also, some works were republished during Soviet times. In France, the peak of popularity of the classic of adventure literature occurred between the two world wars; since the mid-twentieth century, its legacy has been almost completely forgotten.

In 1991-2001, the Moscow publishing house Ladomir published a complete collection of the writer’s novels in 30 volumes (32 books), in new translations.

Henri Louis François Hilaire Boussenard was born in the village of Écrennes near Orleans. His parents were simple people: his father served as a manager at Escrenna Castle, and his mother served as a castellan there. At the age of eight, Louis was left without a father, but thanks to his lively character and intelligence, despite financial difficulties in the family, he studied well at the Lyceum, and then was able to enter the medical faculty of the University of Paris. During the Franco-Prussian War he served as a regimental doctor. After graduation, Louis finished his studies and got married, but his long-time passion for literature directed him towards journalism. His family life did not work out, he separated from his wife and plunged headlong into creativity.

His first publications took place in 1876 in the Parisian newspaper Le Corseur. Along with scientific materials, Louis also published small everyday and acute social reports. He is constantly on the move, writes a lot and easily.

In April 1878, the Journal de Voyage published his first travel novel, Across Australia. The novel turned out to be excellent, and the weekly is expecting new works from Louis. The next novel, "A Young Parisian's Round the World Trip," was published over 54 weeks and was immediately republished as a separate book. The book awaits triumph, the author - a sail to Guiana. On assignment from the "Journal de Voyage" he writes there the novel "The Robinsons of Guiana", the release of which leads to another wild success.

The writer’s undoubted success was the creation of three serial characters: Unmercenary, who first announced his existence in the novel “Penniless” (1895), the nurse Friquette from “With a Red Cross” (1896) and Jean Grandier, who was most clearly revealed in the second novel - duology "Captain Rip-off" (1901).

In search of something new in his work, Boussenard pays tribute to the increasingly popular genre of science fiction. Obsessed scientists, invisible people, and air pirates appear in his books: “The Secrets of Mister Synthesis” (1888), “10,000 Years in a Block of Ice” (1890), “Mr... Nothing!” (1907).

Towards the end of the century, Boussenaard's geographical line begins to weaken. In his work, themes from world history appear, the spirit of melodrama and the feuilleton novel intensifies with its secret societies, formidable avengers, noble and ignoble robbers: “The Secret of Germaine” (1896), “Terror in Macedonia” (1904), “Bandits from Orgers” "(1908), "To the Beat of Drums" (1910).

In 1882, Boussenard, who never returned to his wife, fell in love with 19-year-old Albertine Charlotte Delafoy. They spent the rest of their lives together. However, Boussenard filed for divorce only in June 1909, and in August of the same year he married Charlotte.

After a quarter of a century of marriage, Charlotte died in June 1910. Heartbroken, Boussenard did not survive her for long: he died in September of the same year.

Louis Boussenard is a talented French writer whose novels are known throughout the world. He became famous for his original stories and unusual ideas. Let's take a closer look at the creator's life, filled with various colorful episodes.

Brief biography of the prose writer

The biography of Louis Boussenard begins in France, in Escrennes. The writer was born on October 4, 1847.

Louis Boussenard's father was the manager of the castle at Escrenna and a tax collector for public services. Widowed at an early age, the parent married a second time to a girl who worked as a maid in the castle.

Education

Louis Boussenard had a humanitarian education, which he received in the city of Pithiviers. After graduating from a humanities university, he entered a medical school, which he successfully graduated from.

War years

In 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War was outside the window, Louis Boussenard was drafted into the army. He spent his entire service as a regimental doctor.

Louis Henri Boussenard was seriously wounded while his regiment was fighting near Champigny.

After the end of the war, the future writer continued to be interested in medicine for some time. However, very soon Louis Henri Boussenard realized that his true calling was not in medicine at all, and found himself in literature.

The beginning of a creative journey

For a long time, the writer has been chronicling his sections in many Parisian newspapers.

In 1878, Louis began collaborating with the famous French publishing house, which published the Journal of Adventures on Land and Sea. Boussenard became the inspiration for this magazine and ran it until the last days of his life. It was these publications that brought the writer fame and popularity.

Continuing the path in the literary field

The second book by Louis Boussenard, which brought him an unprecedented triumph, was the work “A Young Parisian’s Round the World Trip.” After the work was published in the magazine, Louis's literary authority rose to unprecedented heights. From that moment on, his works began to be published as separate books.

sources of inspiration

In 1870, the writer went on a ten-year journey. It was there that Louis Boussenard found new sources for creativity.

Leaving the literary path

In 1880, the prose writer left Paris and moved to a small provincial town. Louis Boussenard continued to write books. However, he devoted much less time to this. While relaxing, the man became interested in hunting, fishing and cycling.

Return to the profession

Having taken a break from literary activity, in 1902 Louis returned to journalism. Over the next eight years, articles and books by Louis Boussenard were published under the pseudonym François Devin. During this period, the writer’s works were published in the magazine “Letters from a Peasant”. The prose writer expressed his political, religious and social views.

Mysterious death

Louis spent the last year of his life in Orleans. In 1910, in June, his wife, whom the man loved madly, dies. The writer experienced the loss very hard, because he had been married to this woman for 27 years.

After such a great loss, Louis Boussenard lived no more than three months. The writer's death was the result of a long illness. Louis Boussenard was buried in his native land - in Escrennes.

Despite the data on the death certificate, many literary figures put forward the version of the writer’s suicide.

It is also known that all of Boussenaard's works and manuscripts were burned. This was testified to by Louis's mother, who outlived her son by twenty-two years.

Posthumous editions

In 1911, a collection of the writer’s works was published in Russia. It consisted of forty volumes. During the Soviet Union, many works were republished. One of them was the novel “Captain Rip-Off.”

In 1991, the complete collection of works and works of Louis Boussenard was published, consisting of thirty-two books.

The most famous works

Despite the popularity of many of Louis Boussinard's works, nothing is known about film adaptations of his works.

One of the writer’s most famous works was “The Around the World Trip of a Young Parisian.” The novel was created in This work was first published in the Parisian weekly magazine “Journal of Adventures”. Already in 1880, the novel was published as a separate book. The plot centers on a Parisian, who is only seventeen years old, and his faithful friends. The company constantly found itself on exciting adventures in different parts of the world.

Another famous work by Boussenaard was “The Diamond Thieves,” which was created in 1883. The plot revolves around three Frenchmen who went on a trip to Africa. The young people were guided by rumors that great wealth was hidden on the continent. These rumors reached a group of bandits who also went in search of the treasure. On the way, the French encounter many obstacles and difficulties, but after overcoming them, they finally find treasures for which they will have to fight with greedy bandits. The novel is filled with reliable descriptions of the culture of the peoples of Africa. This is of great value for both literature and science.

In 1901, an equally famous novel by the writer, “Captain Rip-Off,” was published. The work tells the reader about the war of the two Boer republics with the colonialists. The republican people tried to defend their independence. The main character is a very young Frenchman who received the nickname “Rip off the Head”. The life of the main character is full of extraordinary events and adventures. He discovered gold mines in the Klondike. Then the guy becomes very rich. The main character longs for new adventures and creates his own squad, with which he goes to Africa to fight for the independence of the republics.

Another book that was popular with readers was the novel “The Rubber Hunters.” In the center of the plot is a whole group of criminals who escaped from hard labor. The bandits set themselves the goal of capturing and robbing one of the small French settlements in Guiana. This is another story about unprecedented adventures, in which there is no justice, but there is resourcefulness and determination.

Many readers are familiar with the writer’s book, which is called “Island on Fire.” The plot revolves around a girl whose father is a simple master carpenter. Having joined the ranks of the sisters of mercy, she goes to the most exotic countries in the world - Korea, Cuba, Madagascar and many others. The work is one of the best books in the adventure genre.

The novel “Zhan Otorva from Malakhov Kurgan” also became a very famous work of the writer. The action takes place during the Crimean War. The brave soldier Jean, whose nickname is Otorva, constantly risks his life fighting on the Sevastopol lands, where continuous bloody battles take place. In this work, the author sympathizes with all the soldiers who undertake heroic deeds to defend their land.

The book “Under the Southern Cross” can be called an excellent novel by the writer. The events of the work take place in Australia, far from us. The main characters go in search of adventure on a Chinese merchant ship. Having overcome many difficulties, the characters finally get to the island they need and meet a Papuan tribe there, which introduces them to their traditions, but this happens in a not entirely formal setting.

We have collected the main facts from the life and work of the famous French writer and presented them in a short biography of Louis Boussenard, so that you can form your own opinion about him.

Birth, family and education of Boussenaard

The writer was born in France, in the village of Ecrennes, in 1847. The father was in the tax collection service and was the manager of the castle in Ecrenne, and his mother served as a maid in the same castle. The boy was born out of wedlock, and he was given the full name Henri-Louis-François-Hilaire, then, when 3 years later his parents legalized the relationship, Louis received the surname Boussenard.

About five years later, his father died, and his mother had to raise her sons alone (after Louis, his brother Antoine was born). Louis entered a local school, and his success greatly pleased his mother and teachers - the boy’s sharp mind and great diligence were evident in his studies. True, the character turned out to be quite bad. After school, from 1860 to 1867, Louis studied at the Borieu boarding school, where he received a literary education, and after that he decided to enter the University of Paris and study to become a doctor.

Hunting became the passion of young Louis - when he came home, he invariably hunted in the forests of his native land.

War years and creativity in the biography of Louis Boussenard

During his studies, the Franco-Prussian War began, and although Boussenard was not drafted to the front because he was a student, he personally decided to join the army. Since Louis was studying to become a doctor, the army enlisted him as a military paramedic on the eastern front. In 1870, Boussenard was wounded, and the battle where he was wounded turned out to be a failure for the French. The writer deeply experienced these events, being a patriot of his country, and his works more than once reflected similar feelings and memories.

Returning from the front, Louis Boussenard continued his studies, but soon realized that literature was his calling. The first works in the creative biography of Louis Boussenard began to be published in 1876 in some newspapers. He worked for newspapers in Paris as a reporter and chronicler. The first three-month trip to Australia and Indonesia has a profound effect on Louis. When the Travel Journal comes out, it publishes Louis Boussenard's novel All Over Australia.

The author’s next novel is called “A Young Parisian’s Round the World Trip,” and thanks to this work, Boussenard becomes known to a wide circle of readers. After this, Louis leaves his job as a reporter and devotes himself entirely to literature.

Personal life and last years in the biography of Louis Boussenard

In 1883, Boussenard married Albertine Delafoy, and they were married for 27 years. His wife was fond of music, and from time to time she helped her husband in his works, for example, by copying manuscripts of new works. They lived happily and spent a lot of time together. The couple liked to walk in the surrounding area (they lived near Louis’s hometown), ride a two-seater bicycle, and work together.

Louis Boussenard wrote many essays and short stories, novels such as:

- “Ten thousand years among the ice”

- “The Adventures of Bambosh”

In 1910, Albertina suddenly became seriously ill and eventually died. Louis experiences this grief so strongly that he dies three months later that year. Boussenard drew up a will in which he expressed his will - after his death, all his manuscripts and personal letters, as well as the will itself, were to be destroyed (burned), which makes the biography of Louis Boussenard a little mysterious and arouses interest.

Louis Boussenard and Albertine were buried in the writer's native village of Écrennes.

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