author
André Chénier
1762–1794
A brilliant, short-lived voice of French poetry, he blended classical grace with startling feeling and became one of the most haunting figures linked to the French Revolution.
1 Audiobook
Poésies choisies de André Chénier
by André Chénier
About the author
Born in Constantinople on October 30, 1762, and raised largely in France, André Chénier was a poet and political journalist whose work is often seen as a bridge between classicism and early Romantic feeling. Major references describe him as one of the most important French poets of the eighteenth century, though very little of his writing was published during his lifetime.
Chénier wrote with a love of Greek and Roman models, but his poems also carry a vivid, personal energy that helped later readers see him as a precursor to Romanticism. During the French Revolution he became entangled in politics, and in 1794 he was executed by guillotine in Paris at just 31.
His reputation grew after his death, especially when collected editions of his poetry began to appear in the nineteenth century. That mix of talent, unfinished promise, and tragic fate has kept his life and work compelling ever since.