Henri-Frédéric Amiel

Henri -Frédéric Amiel ( born September 27, 1821 in Geneva, † May 11, 1881 in Geneva) was a French- Swiss writer and philosopher.

Amiel was the first son of businessman Henri Amiel and Caroline Brandt. After the death of his parents, he was accepted at the age of 13 years by his uncle Frédéric Amiel. After the commencement of his studies in Geneva, he traveled to Switzerland, Italy, France and Belgium. In Germany, he first talked to nine months in Heidelberg; 1844-1848 he lived in Berlin, where he studied philosophy ( Schelling ), psychology (with Beneke ) and philology and theology.

In 1849 he returned to Geneva and became a professor of aesthetics and French literature at the University of Geneva, thanks to a treatise on You Mouvement littéraire dans la Suisse Romande et de son avenir ( The literary movement in French-speaking Switzerland and their future). From 1854 until his death he also held the chair of philosophy.

Amiel published several volumes of poetry, historical or philological studies and philosophical essays, which are influenced by the idealist German philosophy. The most popular work, which he published in his lifetime, was the patriotic - militarist song Roulez, tambours! ( 1857).

Amiel became famous with its monumental diary ( Journal intime with 17'000 pages 1839-1881 ), which was discovered after his death. The shortly thereafter published excerpts in two volumes created a great stir because of the clarity of thought, sincerity of introspection, the accuracy of the particulars, the discouraging vision of existence and the tendency to self- criticism. The late 19th and early 20th century the diaries influenced writers in Switzerland, but also elsewhere in Europe (eg Leo Tolstoy, Fernando Pessoa ).

Works

• Grains de Mil (1854 )
• Il Penseroso (1858 )
• La Part du Rêve (1863 )
• Les Etrangères (1876 )
• Jour à Jour (1880, dt: every day, selected and with an introduction by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Zurich 2003, ISBN 978-3-85842-555-3 )
• Charles le Téméraire (1876, Charles the Bold, historical novel )
• Studies of Germaine de Staël (1876 ), John Calvin (1878 ) and Jean -Jacques Rousseau ( 1879)
• Diary (1839-1881) Fragments d' un journal intime (1882-1884) Selected excerpts of his diary, published shortly after his death by Fanny Mercier. The German translation of Rosa Schapire published in 1905 by Piper Verlag ( Munich and Leipzig).
• Journal intime (1976-1994) fully edited by Bernard Gagnebin et Philippe M. Monnier in 12 volumes. A German selection appeared in 1986 Matthes and Seitz, entitled Intimate Tasgebuch, ISBN 3-88221-511-9.