Alphonse Daudet

Daudet is a French novelist born on the 13th of May 1840 in Nimes France. His father was a silk manufacture and very unsuccessful. Alphonse had a depressing childhood and in 1956 he left Lyon to become a schoolteacher in Alex, Gard in the south of France. He hated this position and in 1857 abandoned teaching.

Alphonse moved in with his brother Ernest and took up writing. He wrote poems and bound them in a small volume Les Amoureuses. This tome was met with good reviews. Daudet soon obtained employment on Le Figaro and wrote plays. His writings began to be recognized and Morny, Napoleon III's minister liked what he read and saw in Daudet. As a result he appointed Alphonse to be one of his secretaries. Daudet's future was assured.

Daudet's play Fromont jeune et Risler aine (1974) resulted in a treatise containing creative characters that were lifelike and also typical of the day and age. His next novel Jack, a novel about illegitimacy, deepened his style. He went on to write more short stories and novels.

Daudet was considered a monarchist and opposed the French Republic. He was also a known anti-Jew. Alphonse's anti-Semitist attitude produced Le Nabob a short story inspired by a Jewish politician. Daudet campaigned against this same Jewish gentleman and lost. This may have been the issue contributing to his attitude toward Jews. Daudet began writing articles for the anti-Semitic newspaper la libre Parole and for exchanging anti-Semitic correspondence with Richard Wagner a known anti-Jew.

Daudet was very good at exaggerating his connections to Provence to further his social and writing career. He was very evasive about his ancestor roots to his future wife and never really explained his roots to his sons.

Daudet's sons Leon and Lucien Daudet are also authors. There a numerous schools and colleges in contemporary France who bear Daudet's name. His books are widely read and some are still available in print.