Claude-François de Rivarol
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Claude-François de Rivarol (1762 – 1848) was a French Royalist political agent, military figure and man of letters
Biography
Claude-François was born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, the fifth of sixteen children of Jean Rivarol (1727–1807) and Catherine Avon (born in 1731). He was Antoine de Rivarol's younger brother. In 1779 he was in Paris studying at the seminary. But the military career attracted him more than the religious ministry: in 1780, he took service as a military household of the king of France. Lieutenant of the Chasseurs of Maillebois in 1784, royal life guard two years later, he later became a captain on the staff of the guards. In the meantime (1784) he had married Marie-Louise de Nizan, and had a son, Jean-Étienne (1784–1825).
A distinguished officer and a feared fencer, Claude-François remained faithfull to the crowd during the Revolution. Rivarol contributed to Les Actes des Apôtres, Journal de la ville et de la cour and other periodicals. His conduct led to his imprisonment at the Temple in 1793, alongside his wife: he remained there for twenty-two months. Released, Rivarol emigrated to Brussels (where he fought a duel with the son of the Prince of Ligne over some banal matter), went to Germany and settled for a while in Hamburg with his brother. Back in Paris, his royalist declarations earned him a second detention in 1800. It will last two years. Upon his release, he retired to Bagnols (Gard), the cradle of the Rivarol family. Widowed, he married Charlotte de Sibert-Cornillon on May 9, 1808. She gave him a second son, Jean-Hector (1812–1870), and a daughter, Charlotte (1814–1867).
He returned to Paris in 1812. Claude-François' criticism of the Napoleonic regime got him into trouble and for the third time he was imprisoned politically. Released in 1813, he again took the road to emigration. The restoration of the Bourbons earned him some favors: he received a pension with the rank of maréchal de camp and became prévôt of the Gard.
Claude-François de Rivarol died in Brie-Comte-Robert, Seine-et-Marne.
Works
- Chartreux, poésie, et autres poésies fugitives (1784)
- Isman ou le Fatalisme (1785; novel)
- Le Poëte emprunteur (1798; comedy)
- Œuvres littéraires (1799; 4 volumes)
- Guillaume le Conquérant (1827; tragedy)
- Le Véridique (1827; comedy)
- Essai sur les causes de la Révolution française (1827)
- Le Monde tel qu'il fut, tel qu'il est, et tel qu'il sera (1832)
