Emile Littré

Biography

Childhood

His/her father, Michel-François, originating in Avranches, wire of goldsmith, had received a certain education, but, being bored paternal house, went to Paris. There, learning that his/her father was in the embarrassment, it engaged in the marine artillery, and sent to Avranches the price of its engagement. He was gunner during several years and arrived at the rank of Quartermaster-sergeant. When it returned to ground, it was imbu revolutionary ideas of the time. But it was necessary to live, and after some use in province, it managed to become head clerk to the head office of the Indirect taxation to Paris. He married Sophie Johannot, free-thinker like him, and they had two wire, Emile and Barthélémy, who were born in Paris. Having the taste of the study, it had assembled a very good library, and, implementing its philosophical ideas, it was devoted to the education of its two sons. For that, he learned the Greek and, later, the Sanscrit. The Emile young person, who carried more the paternal seal, was sent to the Louis-the-Large Lycée, where it had as friends Louis Hachette and Eugene Burnouf.

When, in 1819, Emile finished his secondary studies, he hesitated a little over the profession which he should choose, time that he made profitable to improve in English, in German, Italian, Latin and Greek, in a way such as he could not only write in these languages, but to compose also there of the worms. A few years later, in 1823 Eugene Burnouf gave him lessons of Sanskrit, at the same time as with Barthelemy-Saint-Hilaire, thus reinforcing the bases of its philological science .

Medical studies and first political commitments

Meanwhile it decided for medicine and, in 1822, was registered there as student. During eight years, it was devoted almost without division to these studies, passed all the degrees of the externat and the boarding school, and had as school-fellows and colleagues Louis-Marie Michon, Antoine Constant Danyau and Natalis Guillot. It had nothing any more but its thesis to prepare to obtain the diploma which would have enabled him to exert when, in 1827, his/her father died, leaving his/her mother absolutely without resources. It renonça immediately to pass the Doctorate and, while preserving an lively interest for medicine, gave courses of Latin and Greek to provide for the needs for its family.

During the Revolution of July 1830, enthusiastic republican, it made the shot on the side of the insurrectionists, who drove out Charles X Rambouillet. He had endorsed for the occasion a uniform of guard national, gesture seditious, since this militia had been dissolved in 1827, and he had put himself on a round hat. His/her friend Farcy was killed at his sides, and its body was brought back to its own residence.

Literary journalism and work

In 1831 it was recommended to Armand Carrel, editor association of the National, which gave him the task of reading the English newspapers and German to find there the extracts interesting. In 1835 Carrel discovered by chance the great capacities of its reader, who, as from this moment, became a regular collaborator.

He resumed his medical studies, assiduously assisting with the conferences Rayer with Charity, being appropriate with the bookseller Baillière, specialized in the works of medicine and natural science, the translation and the edition of Hippocrates. He concentrated consequently mainly on this work, while starting in 1836 his contributions to the Revue of both mondes with articles on all kinds of subjects, of which some revealed the Médecin and the philosopher naturalist:

the Great Epidemics (January 15th, 1836);
Research on the fossil bones of Vat ;
New research of the geometricians on the heat of the ground .

Although it was itself agnostic, it Maria in 1835 or 1837 with an young girl simple, pious and practicing, of which he had a girl, Sophie, who was high chrétiennement according to the faith of her mother. In 1839 the first volume of its edition of work of Hippocrates appeared. The value of this work was immediately recognized by the election of its author, on February 22nd of this same year, with the Académie of the Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres. At that time - it had then nearly 40 years - it discovered by chance work of Auguste Count, which allured it by their character scientific and methodical, and whose reading constituted, as it said itself, “the cardinal point of its life”. As from this moment the influence of the Positivisme appeared on its own life and, which is more important, its own influence on positivism, because it gave to positivism as much as it received from him. He became soon the friend of Count and popularized his ideas in many work on philosophy positivist, giving a first lucid and skilful summary of these ideas under the title Analyze reasoned of the courses of positive Philosophy . At the same time it continued its edition of Hippocrates, who was not finished before 1862, and in the same way published an edition of the Histoire naturelle of Pline for the Collection of the Latin authors directed by Nisard. After the death of Fauriel in 1844, it replaced this one with the Académie of the Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres in the committee which devoted itself to the literary Histoire of France. Its knowledge of former French and the literature appeared priceless there, and it was one of the principal authors of volumes XXI, XXII and XXIII.

It accommodated with joy the Révolution of 1848, and accepted the functions not remunerated of City council man of Paris. But it was not long in giving its resignation, by seeing the walk of the events. He refused the ribbon of the Légion of honor which was offered to him, and took share with repression against the insurrection of June, while going back to work with a new heat. The articles which it published for this period with the National, were collected and published in 1852 pennies the title of Conservation, revolution and positivisme, showing its complete adhesion with all the doctrines of Count. However, during the last years of the life of this last, it was going to understand that it could not entirely accept all the dogmas nor all the mystical ideas of that which was its Master and his friend; it however hid its divergences of opinion and Count did not notice that his pupil had further gone than him, as itself had been further than Saint-Simon, his Master.

Throughout all Empire, it kept away from the policy, being devoted only to the literary labors and scientists who did of him one of the eminent scientists of this time. It took again the course of its research on medicine, and the Dictionnaire of medicine and surgery , which had had to be at the beginning only one rehandling of the work of Nysten, became little by little, between the hands of Littré and its collaborator Robin, a primarily original and personal work.

Its Dictionary

But its capital work and its principal title, it is incontestably the Dictionnaire of the French language , whose it had conceived the project early. It had indeed made it accept since 1841 with the chief of the house Hachette, his school-fellow and friend, Louis Hachette, but this project accepted a beginning of execution later only six years. The drafting lasted of 1847 to 1865, and the impression, started on September 27th, 1859, was finished only in November 1872, after an interruption of approximately nine months in 1870-1871. One can realize of the work which this Dictionnaire required when it is known that the copy counted: 415636 layers, and that it was arranged per packages of thousand sheets in eight whitewood cases, deposited in the cellar of the country house of Littré to the Mesnil-the-King. In the month of August 1870, in preparation for military operations around Paris, Littré made transport these cases to Paris, in the basements of the Hachette house, to put them out of reach shells. It was the greatest lexicographical work undertaken until there on the French language, and one does not know what one must admire more in the author of this work: the safety of its method, the sagacity of its judgments, depth of its scholarship, the patience of its research or its untiring activity, all that in the middle of more the patriotic sharp anguishes.

During this time, the death of Count in 1858 had released Littré of very feared to sadden the last years of its Master, and it published its own ideas in Paroles of philosophy positive in 1859 and, at greater length, in its work Auguste Count and philosophy positive in 1863. In this book he studies the origin of the ideas of Count at Turgot, Kant and Saint-Simon, tells then in an eulogistic way the life of Count, speaks about his philosophical method, the great services which he returned to the cause and of the results of his work, before showing the points finally on which he separates from him. It fully approves the philosophy of Count, its great laws on the company and its philosophical method, that indeed it defended cordially against Stuart Mill, but declares that, while it believes in philosophy positivist, he does not believe in a religion of humanity.

In 1863, it finished its Hippocrate and its Pline, while seriously continuing work on its Dictionnaire of the French language . The same year he was proposed for the French Academy, but was drawn aside, following the opposition of Mgr Dupanloup, bishop of Orleans, which had denounced it in its Avertissement with the fathers of famille like the chief of the materialists French. At that time Littré also launched with Wyrouboff the review Philosophie Positive, which was to make known the theses of the modern positivists. It published there, in 1870, under the title: Of the organic origins of Morals , an article which created sensation, and provides many arguments to the catholic theorists who showed Littré of Athéisme. The same year, it supported the widow of Count in his lawsuit against the testamentary executors of her husband, and was opposed to the publication of last works of Auguste Count, whom it regarded as unworthy of him.

Political life

Its life ran out thus, devoted to literary work, until the fall of the Empire led it to take share with the policy. But, feeling too old to support the deprivations of the head office of Paris, it was withdrawn with its family in Brittany. Gambetta appointed then it professor of history and geography to the Polytechnic school, and made it come to Bordeaux. Soon afterwards, it returned in the political life, but without giving up its other work.

He was elected with the National Assembly by the department of the the Seine on February 8th, 1871, the 33e on 43, by: 87868 votes on: 328970 voters. He took seat on the left, and voted constantly with the moderated republicans, for example Against the constituting capacity of the Assemblée, For dissolution, Against the fall of Thiers at May 24th at the time of the bloody Semaine, Against the Septennat, the law of the mayors and the state of siege, For the Walloon Amendement and that of Duprat, which required that the future Sénat be named with the Vote for all, and For the whole of the constitutional laws. During the renewal of the general advices, it was named on October 15th, 1871 member of the general advice for the canton of Saint-Denis, and this assembly chooses it for her vice-president.

In the meeting of December 30th, 1871, he was elected, to replace Villemain, member of the French Academy in spite of the reiterated opposition of Mgr Dupanloup, which wanted, with glare, to resign of his armchair rather than to receive it.

With the National Assembly, Littré, eloquent only the feather with the hand, did not take any share with the parliamentary debates, and never appeared with the platform. But it was not less very assiduous with the meetings. “All arrangements of my life, has it says while speaking about the year 1872, to get the greatest sum of serviceable time to me were upset. Member of the National Assembly, I attended the meetings regularly. Not having been able to take residence with Versailles, because of my books and all that in Paris I had under the hand, I was obliged to make each day the voyage. This way, the middle of the days was removed to me entire; there remained to me only the mornings, the nights, Sundays and the holidays of the Parliament. These hours concealed with the public duties, one will imagine without sorrow with which jealous care I employed them, and how much I delighted when I live that they were enough for me”

In the month of April 1873, Littré, which had made adhesion with the " Republic conservatrice" , protested in a letter addressed to the Temps against the radical candidature of Barodet to replace Sauvage deceased, candidature approved by many deputies simply to protest against the law which had taken from Lyon its municipal franknesses, and in Barodet its mandate of Maire. Barodet nevertheless was elected.

Its Dictionnaire of the French language was finally completed in at the end of 1872. A sure interpretation there is given use of each word, is based on the various directions which it had in the past and is supported of examples drawn from works of old or modern authors. July 8th, 1875, the freemasons gave a great solemnity to its reception by the Grand the East of France (cabin “Lenient friendship”), and a great publicity with the speech that Littré pronounced the day of its initiation. It was accepted at the same time as Jules Ferry and Gregoire Wyrouboff. The Littré December 15th, 1875 was elected by the irremovable National Assembly senator, the 52e on 75, by 343 votes out of 676 voters. It sat at the Upper House in the rows of the moderate left. He voted Against the dissolution of the Room in 1877, showed himself, at the time of the Crise of May 16th the adversary of the government which of it resulted, the partisan of the ministry Dufaure, and favorable to the broadest religious matter tolerance. He voluntarily abstained from at the time of the poll on the new law about higher education. He continued to write articles, and most remarkable of these productions during these years were its political writings where he revealed and tackled the agreement of the Orléanistes and of the Légitimistes and decided in favor of the republic. He made republish a great number of his old articles and his old works, inter alia Conservation, revolution and positivisme of 1852 (which he reprinted word for word, there uniting a formal and categorical renunciation of much of doctrines comtists which he contained) and a small booklet Pour the last fois, where he maintained his conviction inalterable in the Matérialisme, and where he devoted to one his rare épanchements intimate. He answers it with much tact and simplicity the religious requests which touched it, without seeking to wound the convictions that he does not divide, affirming that he tests neither the desire to believe, nor anguish of some incrédules. “I questioned myself in vain, I do not test anything of what they tested. I am without regret to be apart from these beliefs, and then to discover in me any desire to return there. ”

However, when they realized that the old man did not have to live a long time any more, his wife and girl, enthusiastic catholics, endeavoured to convert it. It had had for a long time discussions with the Millériot father, celebrates controversist, and it had been very afflicted with its death; but it is hardly probable that it would have been let one day truly convert. Despite everything, when it was with the article of death, it made this supreme concession with the catholic feelings of his wife and her daughter agree to receive the sacraments, including those of the Baptême and the Mariage; and his wife made him give catholic funeral.

It was buried with the Cimetière of Montparnasse. According to its will express, no speech was made on its tomb.

The public lycée of Avranches is called general-purpose college Emile-Littré to point out the origins of the family of the great man.

Works

Translations

Translation and edition of the Works of Hippocrates (1839 - 1861);
Translation of the Life of Jesus of David Strauss (1839 - 1840), where it exposes in the foreword his doctrines, substituent the supernatural order with another ideal, that of Humanity;
Translation and edition of the Natural history of Pline (1848 - 1850);
Translation of the Manual of physiology (Handbuch DER Physiology) of Müller (1851), where he added a philosophical foreword, assigning with physiology its true role in the order of sciences;

Dictionaries

Taken again Dictionary of medicine, surgery, etc of Nysten (1855);
History of the French language (participation in the drafting of volumes 21 to 23 (1862);
Dictionary of the French language (Littré) (1863 - 1872).

Philosophical writings

Rationale of the course of philosophy positivist of Auguste Count (1845);
Application of positive philosophy to the government (1849);
Conservation, revolution and positivism (1852);
Words of positive philosophy (1859);
Auguste Count and positive philosophy (1863);
Science from the philosophical point of view (1873);
Fragments of philosophy and contemporary sociology (1876);
For the last time .

Collaboration with newspapers

the Experiment , medical newspaper which it created in 1837 with Dezeimeris;
the National ;
the Review of the two worlds ;
the Newspaper of the debates ;
Re-examined Germanic ;
Given in order of the political Works of Armand Carrel (1854-1858).

Sources

Holy-Beuve Biography of Littré by at the head of Littré
Adolphe Robert and Gaston Cougny: Dictionary of the French members of Parliament (1889)
Michel Gaudard de Soulages and Hubert Spangling: Dictionary of the European Freemasons (2005)

Dictionaries on line

Dictionary of the French language Littré (1863-1876)
verbal Pathologies of Emile Littré (1880) etymology

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