Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais (62)

Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804–69) was born at 16 rue du pot d'étain, Boulogne-sur-Mer, a month after his father's death, and was brought up by his mother Augustine and his maternal aunt. He went to school in Boulogne, which he left to continue his studies in Paris. Sainte-Beuve was a poet and novelist, but is most noted for his work as a literary critic, particularly in his belief that the work of a writer is a reflection of his life. Proust was a stong critic of Sainte-Beuve's ideas, his Contre Sainte-Beuve being published posthumously in 1954. The building where the plaque on his birthplace stands is now pretty non-descript, although when Harold Nicolson phographed it for his biography of Sanite-Beuve (published 1957) it was Hôtel Restaurant Sainte-Beuve.

Sainte-Beuve's grave in the Cimetière du Montparnasse.

Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, 6e arrondissement, Paris

'SAINTE BEUVE
POËTE ET CRITIQUE
NÉ À BOULOGNE-SUR-MER
LE 23 DÉCEMBRE 1804,
EST MORT
DANS CETTE MAISON
LE 13 OCTOBRE 1869'

 

Rue du Montparnasse. Although the length of his stay isn't mentioned here, Sainte-Beuve lived here from 1851 until his death in 1869.