AUTRAN

autran, joseph (1813-1877), french poet, was born at marseilles on the 20th of june 1813. in 1832 he addressed an ode to lamartine, who was then at marseilles on his way to the east. the elder poet persuaded the young man's father to allow him to follow his poetic bent, and autran remained from that time a faithful disciple of lamartine. his best known work is _la mer_ (1835), remodelled in 1852 as _les poemes de la mer. ludibria ventis_ (1838) followed, and the success of these two volumes gained for autran the librarianship of his native town. his other most important work is his _vie rurale_ (1856), a series of pictures of peasant life. the algerian campaigns inspired him with verses in honour of the common soldier. _milianah_ (1842) describes the heroic defence of that town, and in the same vein is his _laboureurs et soldats_ (1854). among his other works are the _paroles de salomon_ (1868), _epitres rustiques_ (1861), _sonnets capricieux_, and a tragedy played with great success at the odeon in 1848, _la fille d'eschyle_. a definitive edition of his works was brought out between 1875 and 1881. he became a member of the french academy in 1868, and died at marseilles on the 6th of march 1877.