Prosper Mérimée was a French novelist and short story writer.
Background
Prosper Mérimée was born on September 28, 1803 in Paris, France. His parents were artists, who bequeathed to their son a skepticism typical of the 18th century as well as a highly artistic sense.
Their influence and that of Stendhal, whom Mérimée knew and greatly admired, contributed to the severe realism, the irony, and even the trace of cynicism which marked his work, and which were unusual traits in the heyday of the Romantic period.
Education
By the age of fifteen he was fluent in English. He had a talent for foreign languages, and besides English mastered classical Greek and Latin. Later in life he became fluent in Spanish, and could passably speak Serbian and Russian. In school he also had a strong interest in history, and was fascinated by magic and the supernatural, which later became important elements in many of his stories.
He finished the Lycée with high marks in classical languages and in 1820 he began to study law, planning for a position in the royal administration. In 1822 he passed the legal examinations and received his license to practice law.
Mérimée prepared for the bar, but he also devoted himself seriously to the study of languages, archaeology, and history.
Career
His first work was Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul (1825), supposedly a translation of plays written by a Spanish poetess and discovered by Mérimée.
This was followed in 1827 by another literary hoax, La Guzla (an anagram of Gazul), a purported translation from an Illyrian poet. Both played an important part in the early development of Romanticism.
Mérimée's most characteristic contribution to French literature, however, came with his later masterpieces: La Chronique du règneregne de Charles IX (1829), the most accurate French historical novel of the Romantic era; Mateo Falcone (1829), a Corsican story of devastating realism; L'Enlèvement de la redoute (1829), a superlative piece of description; Tamango (1829), a violent tale of the African slave trade; La Vénus d'Ille (1837), an example of Romantic mystification; Colomba (1840), a powerful novel of Corsican vendetta; and Carmen (1845), the most famous of French novelettes.
These stories are characterized by a pervasive pessimism, especially in the author's low estimation of humanity, a cult of passion and forceful action, a careful attention to precise detail, and a cool objectivity.
Mérimée was made inspector-general of historical monuments under Louis-Philippe, and through his intimacy with the family of Empress Eugénie was named senator in 1853.