author
Marc Monnier
1827–1885
A lively 19th-century writer and critic, he moved easily between fiction, satire, history, and literary scholarship. His work was shaped by a cosmopolitan life that connected Florence, Naples, Paris, Geneva, Heidelberg, and Berlin.
1 Audiobook
The Wonders of Pompeii
by Marc Monnier
About the author
Born in Florence in 1827, Marc Monnier grew up in an international world: his father was French and his mother came from Geneva. He was educated in Naples, Paris, Geneva, Heidelberg, and Berlin, an unusually wide-ranging background that helped make him both a man of letters and a sharp observer of European culture.
Monnier went on to become professor of comparative literature at the University of Geneva and later served as vice-rector. Alongside his academic work, he wrote across many forms, including short stories, satire, criticism, and studies of Italian life and history.
He is often remembered for bringing wit and curiosity to everything he wrote. That mix of scholarship and storytelling gave his books an energy that still makes him an interesting figure among 19th-century French-language authors.