Collection: Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, called de Chamfort
Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, called de Chamfort (born 6 April 1741, died 13 April 1794) – French writer and aphorist, considered by his contemporaries to be the successor of Voltaire, member of the French Academy.
He studied in Paris, supporting himself by giving private lessons and writing pamphlets for newspapers. He gained fame by publishing the comedy La Jeune Indienne in 1764. In 1770, the writer published another comedy Le Marchand de Smyrne . A serious illness influenced his decision to go to Contrexéville for treatment. Thanks to a pension offered to him by a friend, he was able to sit at his desk again. In 1774 he received a prize from the Marseilles Academy. A year later his Mustapha et Zéangir was exhibited at Fontainebleau in the presence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. In 1781 he was elected to the French Academy. During the Jacobin dictatorship, threatened with imprisonment, he attempted suicide.
Chamfort's works quickly found their Polish translators. In 1774, A young Indian girl , and in 1784 The Merchant of Smyrna . His chief work, Characters and anecdotes They were published in Polish in 1910 and later, in Boy's translation, in 1933.
