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Alphonse Daudet – French novelist

Alphonse Daudet - French novelist

Alphonse Daudet – French novelist


Alphonse Daudet was the French novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer. He is remembered for his regionalist sketches of Provence and for his role in the evolution of 19th century theater.
Alphonse Daudet was born in 1840 in Nimes. His father was a silk manufacturer, who had to abandon business in 1849 and move the family to Lyons. In 1857 the Daudets lost everything and the family became scattered. His elder brother Ernest brought him to Paris and encouraged the boy’s literary talents. A collection of love verses, Les Amoureuses, represented debut for Alphonse.
In 1868 Daudet’s first long work, Le Petit Chose (The Little Good-for-nothing), was completed.

The serial publication of his Aventures Prodigieuses de Tartarin de Tarascon (1869) assured Daudet a place in Parisian literary circles.
In 1859 Alphonse began to work in several newspapers as a reporter and theater critic. In 1860, he was introduced to the Duke de Morny, who served as President of the Legislative Corps of the Second Empire. Daudet became one of the secretaries, which did not stop Alphonse from engaging in journalistic and literary activities. He worked for de Morny for almost five years, until the death of the Duke in 1865.
He married in 1867 and became a father of 3 children: Leon (1867-1942), Lucien (1878-1946), Edmey (1886-1937).
Famous Alphonse Daudet

Famous Alphonse Daudet


By the age of 30, Daudet had become one of the most famous French writers. After the Franco-Prussian War (1870) he met regularly with Gustave Flaubert, Ivan Turgenev, Edmond de Goncourt, and Zola.
Daudet died after an apoplectic attack on December 16, 1897.
In the period of 1866-1868s the newspapers published his original lyrical novels about the nature and people of Provence. They were published in 1869 as a separate book called Letters from my mill. Almost at the same time, Daudet’s first novel, Le Petit Chose, was published in the press. These two works brought fame and money to the writer.
His works were translated and are translated into many languages.

Alphonse Daudet – French novelist

Outstanding Alphonse Daudet

Outstanding Alphonse Daudet

Prominent Alphonse Daudet

Prominent Alphonse Daudet

Talented Alphonse Daudet

Talented Alphonse Daudet

Alphonse Daudet and his wife in the study, 1883, painting by Louis Montegut

Alphonse Daudet and his wife in the study, 1883, painting by Louis Montegut

Grave of Alphonse Daudet

Grave of Alphonse Daudet

Monument to Alphonse Daudet

Monument to Alphonse Daudet

Popular Alphonse Daudet

Popular Alphonse Daudet

Letters from the mill

Letters from the mill

Eugene Carriere. Portrait of Alphonse Dode with his daughter

Eugene Carriere. Portrait of Alphonse Dode with his daughter