author
Léon Bazalgette
1873–1928
A French literary critic, biographer, and translator, Léon Bazalgette helped introduce Walt Whitman’s poetry to French readers. His work also explored the lives and ideas of writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Émile Verhaeren.
1 Audiobook
Henry Thoreau, bachelor of nature
by Léon Bazalgette
About the author
Maurice Léon Bazalgette was born in Paris on May 8, 1873, and died there on December 31, 1928. He became known for his literary criticism, biographies, and translations, with a particular interest in English-language literature.
Bazalgette published a biography of Walt Whitman in 1908 and a French translation of Leaves of Grass in 1909, helping bring Whitman’s work to a wider French audience. In 1924, he published Henry Thoreau, sauvage, a biography of Henry David Thoreau.
He was connected with the artistic community of the Abbaye de Créteil and knew writers including Émile Verhaeren and Stefan Zweig. From 1926 to 1928, he also wrote a regular column on foreign literature for the French newspaper L’Humanité.