Hippolyte Taine

Born in Vouziers, France, on April 21, 1828, Hippolyte Taine became one of the best-known French critics, historians, and philosophers of his century. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure and built a reputation for bringing a rigorous, analytical style to subjects that many treated more impressionistically.

Taine is especially remembered for applying scientific and historical thinking to literature and art. He argued that writers and works should be understood in relation to the forces around them, and his approach had a strong influence on French naturalism. His major books include History of English Literature, On Intelligence, and the multivolume The Origins of Contemporary France.

He died in Paris on March 5, 1893, but his influence lasted well beyond his lifetime. Readers still turn to Taine for his ambitious attempt to connect ideas, culture, psychology, and history into one broad picture of how human societies are formed.