author
Ernest Hamel
1826–1898
A 19th-century French writer and public figure, he is best remembered for vivid works on the French Revolution and for his strong republican convictions. His books, especially on Robespierre, helped shape how later readers approached that turbulent era.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Paris on July 2, 1826, Ernest Hamel was a French lawyer, writer, historian, journalist, and politician. He studied at the Lycée Henri-IV and then law in Paris, but literature and history drew him more strongly than legal practice.
He became especially known as a biographer of Maximilien de Robespierre and as a writer on the French Revolution. His work reflected clear republican and democratic sympathies, which gave his historical writing both energy and a distinct point of view.
Hamel was also active in public life. He served as mayor of Richebourg and later as a senator for Seine-et-Oise from 1892 until his death in Paris on January 6, 1898. Alongside politics, he remained an important man of letters, at one point serving as president of the Société des gens de lettres.