André Chénier
- "Poet causes a stink. Poet André Chénier has hit a nerve with his verse attacks on Jean-Paul Marat, Maximilien Robespierre and, most recently, the painter Jacques-Louis David. A witty pen is sometimes the best weapon!"
- ―Le Patriote on André Chénier.[src]
André Marie Chénier (30 October 1762 – 25 July 1794) was a French poet of Greek and Levantine origins, noted for his emotive poetry and attacks on notable figures of the French Revolution.
Biography
A student of ancient Greece and the classics of the antiquity, Chénier associated with the leading literary and aristocratic circles. He was noticed for his capabilities in poetry and writing, his ambition being to become "the modern Homer".
During the French Revolution, Chénier contributed to the Journal de Paris, in which he denounced the excesses of the revolution and openly criticized the leading Jacobins Maximilien de Robespierre, Jean-Paul Marat and Jacques-Louis David in his satirical poems. During the September Massacres of 1792, Chénier became a target for the angry mobs, forcing him to flee to Paris and take refuge in Normandy.
Trivia
- Chénier was born in Constantinople's Galata District, the same district that housed the headquarters of the Ottoman Assassins during the Renaissance.