biography
| name: |
La Harpe, Jean-François
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pseudonym of Jean-François Delharpe
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pronunciation:
[la hah(r)p]
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1739–1803)
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| biography:
| Poet and critic, born in Paris, France. Orphaned at age nine and imprisoned at 19 for allegedly writing a satire against his protectors at college, he became an embittered man. He was editor and critic for the Mercure de France, and became respected, though disliked, for his unsympathetic views. In 1786 he was admitted to the Académie Française and began to lecture at the newly established Lycée. His lectures published as Cours de Littérature (16 vols, 1799–1805) show an intelligent understanding of 17th-c literature. |
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