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Goncourt brothers — Nadar · Public domain

poet lawyer

Goncourt brothers

French writers

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Also known as Edmond and Jules de Goncourt

Key facts

Occupation: poet lawyer

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Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Overview

The Goncourt brothers were Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896) and Jules de Goncourt (1830–1870), both French naturalism writers who, as collaborative sibling authors, were inseparable in life. Background Edmond and Jules were born to minor aristocrats Marc-Pierre Huot de Goncourt and his second wife Annette-Cécile de Goncourt (née Guérin). Marc-Pierre was a retired cavalry officer and squadron leader in the Grande Armée of Napoléon I. The brothers' great-grandfather, Antoine Huot de Goncourt, purchased the seigneurie of the village of Goncourt in the Meuse Valley in 1786, and their grandfather Huot sat as a deputy in the National Assembly of 1789. The brothers' uncle, Pierre Antoine Victor Huot de Goncourt, was a deputy for the Vosges in the National Assembly between 1848 and 1851. In 1860, the brothers applied to the Keeper of the Seals for the exclusive use of the noble title "de Goncourt", but their claim was refused. Partnership They formed a partnership that "is possibly unique in literary history. Not only did they write all their books together, they did not spend more than a day apart in their adult lives, until they were finally parted by Jules's death in 1870." They are known for their literary work and for their diaries, which offer an intimate view into the French literary society of the later 19th century. Career

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“On a souvent essayé de définir le Beau en art. Ce que c'est? Le beau, est ce qui paraît abominable aux yeux sans éducation.”
— There have been many definitions of beauty in art. What is it? Beauty is what untrained eyes consider abominable.
“Ne jamais parler de soi aux autres et leur parler toujours d'eux-mêmes: c'est tout l'art de plaire. Chacun le sait et tout le monde l'oublie.”
— The art of pleasing consists in never speaking of oneself and always talking to others of themselves. Every one is aware of this, yet how often is it forgotten.
“Évidemment, les critiques n'ont été créés que le septième jour. S'ils avaient été créés le premier, qu'auraient-ils eu à faire?”
— Critics must have been created on the seventh day. Because if God had created them on the first day, what on earth would they have done?
“Un livre n'est jamais un chef-d'œuvre, il le devient. Le génie est le talent d'un homme mort.”
— A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man.
“S'il y a un Dieu, l'athéisme doit lui sembler une moindre injure que la religion.”
— If there is a God, atheism must strike Him as less of an insult than religion.
“L'Anglais, filou comme peuple, est honnête comme individu. Il est le contraire du Français, honnête comme peuple et filou comme individu.”
— The English are crooked as a nation and honest as individuals. The contrary is true of the French, who are honest as a nation and crooked as individuals.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.