Xavier Marmier

Xavier Marmier (1808-1892)
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A French author with a passion for travel, and with a love for writing about his journeys - to continuously deepen his knowledge on the people and culture of places he was visiting (and to share this knowledge through his writings). After journeying in Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, he was attached in 1835 to the Arctic expedition of the Recherche; and after a couple of years at Rennes as professor of foreign literature, he visited (1842) Russia, (1845) Syria, (1846) Algeria, (1848–1849) North America and South America, and numerous volumes from his pen were the result. In 1870 he was elected to the Academy, and he was for many years prominently identified with the Sainte-Geneviève library. He did much to encourage the study of Scandinavian literature in France, publishing translations of Holberg, Oehlenschlager and others.

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• Leconte de Lisle: Le Cœur de Hialmar

(Le Parnasse des Lettres)