biography
| name: |
Béranger, Pierre Jean de
|
pronunciation:
[bayrãzhay]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1780–1857)
|
| biography:
| Poet and writer of popular songs, born in Paris, France. He undertook various jobs and did literary hack work in his spare time. Under the Empire he wrote poems, the best known of which are ‘Le Roi d'Yvetot’ (c.1813), ‘Le Dieu des pauvres gens’, ‘Le Sacre de charles le Simple’, ‘La Grand-Mère’, and ‘Le Vieux Sergent’. With the return of the monarchy in 1815 he took up nostalgic and Bonapartist themes. His lyrics, such as Recuils de chansons (1815–33), were coloured by his politics, and led to spells of imprisonment in 1821 and 1828, but their vivacity, satire, and wit endeared him to the masses. An influential and respected figure, he refused all official honours, including membership of the Académie Française. |
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