Napoleon at the house of Chateaubriand
The Fondation Napoléon and the Maison de Chateaubriand are organising a series of events to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of François-René de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768) and the 150th anniversary of his death (4 July 1848). Collaboration between these two institutions is not as surprising as it may appear. While it is true that, during their lifetimes, the Emperor and the writer were often at loggerheads, posterity has largely pushed this rivalry into the background. It is thus a sort of posthumous dialogue that the two institutions wish to have by proposing a special series of talks at the Fondation Napoléon in Paris, and a study day and an exhibition at the Maison de Chateaubriand at La Vallée-aux-Loups (Châtenay-Malabry, Paris region).
The joint programme:
▷Three talks dedicated to Chateaubriand as part of the Cercle d’études programme of the Fondation Napoléon:
Tuesday 2 October 2018 at 6pm: Béatrice Didier, Professor Emeritus at the ENS (Ulm), Chateaubriand: diversity and unity of the “self”
Tuesday 16 October 2018 at 6pm: Bernard Degout, Director of the Maison de Chateaubriand: Chateaubriand reader and translator of Ossian
Tuesday 13 November 2018 at 18h: Yves Bruley: Chateaubriand, diplomat
at the Fondation Napoléon, 7 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 75005 Paris. Registration required (clare@napoleon.org or 01 56 56 43 46 00), see our Cercle d’etudes Autumn programme for full details (in French)
▷ An exhibition “l’Empire en boite” (The Empire in a box), at the Maison de Chateaubriand, from 20 October 2018 to 6 March 2019. More information (in English).
▷ A study day at the Maison de Chateaubriand, on 19 October 2018 entitled ” Napoléon et Chateaubriand en leur temps ” (Napoleon and Chateaubriand in their time), with presentations (in French) by Bernard Degout, director of the Maison de Chateaubriand: “Chateaubriand et Napoléon”, Jean-Claude Berchet, editor and biographer of Chateaubriand: “Chateaubriand et le néo-classicisme” (“Chateaubriand and neo-classicism”), Jean-Claude Bonnet director of studies at the CNRS: “Antonin Carême, le Napoléon de la Cuisine” (“Antonin Carême, the Napoleon of Haute cuisine”), Chantal Prévot librarian at the Fondation Napoléon: “Que lisaient les Français à l’ époque de Napoléon et Chateaubriand?” (“Which books did the French read at the time of Napoleon and Chateaubriand?”); Thierry Lentz, director of the Fondation Napoléon: “Joseph Bonaparte : un libéral dans la famille Bonaparte?” (“Joseph Bonaparte: a liberal in the Bonaparte family?”); Peter Hicks, international affairs manager at the Fondation Napoléon: “Musiques au temps de Chateaubriand et de Napoléon” (“Music in the time of Chateaubriand and Napoleon”).
More information (in French) on how to take part in the Study Day (sign up before 7 October) and practicalities.
