CONSTANT, BENJAMIN

born Oct. 25, 1767, Lausanne, Switz. died Dec. 8, 1830, Paris in full Henri-benjamin Constant De Rebecque Franco-Swiss novelist and political writer, the author of Adolphe (1816), a forerunner of the modern psychological novel. The son of a Swiss officer in the Dutch service, whose family was of French origin, he studied at Erlangen, Ger., briefly at the University of Oxford, and at Edinburgh. In 1787 he formed, in Paris, his first liaison, with Madame de Charrire, 27 years his senior. His republican opinions in no way suited him to the office of chamberlain to the duke of Brunswick, which he held for several years. In 1794 he chose the side of the French Revolution, abandoning his office and divorcing his wife, a lady of the court. Madame de Stal had much to do with his decision. Their tumultuous and passionate relationship lasted until 1806. After the coup d'tat of 18 Brumaire (1799), he was nominated to the tribunate; but he quickly became, like Madame de Stal, an opponent of the Bonapartist regime and, expelled from the tribunate in 1802, followed her into exile the year after. Thereafter he spent his time either at Madame de Stal's salon at Coppet, near Geneva, or in Germany, chiefly at Weimar, where he met Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. Constant was the associate of the brothers Friedrich and August von Schlegel, the pioneers of the Romantic idea, and with them he inspired Madame de Stal's book De l'Allemagne (On Germany). During his exile, Constant worked on his De la religion considre dans sa source, ses formes et ses dveloppements, 5 vol. (182431; On Religion Considered in Its Source, Its Forms, and Its Developments), a historical analysis of religious feeling. In it he revealed his inner self, as he also did in his intimate diaries, which for long remained unknown; in his correspondence, particularly with his cousin Rosalie; and, not least, in Adolphe, the barely disguised account of his break with Madame de Stal in 1806. Written in a lucid and classical style, this novel describes in minute analytical detail a young man's passion for a woman older than himself. Nearly 150 years after the publication of Adolphe, another of Constant's autobiographical novels, Ccile, dealing with events between 1793 and 1808, was discovered. Constant's Journaux intimes (Intimate Journals) were first published in their entirety in 1952, adding to the autobiographical picture of Constant provided by his Cahier Rouge (1907; The Red Notebook). In 1808 Constant secretly married Charlotte von Hardenberg. But his intellectual relationship with Madame de Stal and the group at Coppet remained unbroken. As a liberal he was disappointed by the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, and he reconciled himself with the Napoleonic empire of the Hundred Days under the influence of Madame Rcamier, the other great love of his life. On his return to Paris after a short exile, Constant became one of the leaders of liberal journalism. He was elected a deputy in 1819. After the revolution of July 1830, he was appointed president of the council of state but died the same year. Constant's complete works were published in 1957, and the first edition of Ccile appeared in 1951, with an English translation the next year.