Beranger, Jean-Pierre

(1780-1857)

   poet and songwriter

   Known for his political songs, Jean-Pierre Beranger was born in Paris. He became a topographer working in the bank that his father founded (1796), then as a clerk in the offices of the university of Paris (1809). He wrote his first verses early on, a satirical comedy and an epic poem, and became a member of the societé du Caveau, a well-known group of songwriters. He had already come to the notice of lucien bonaparte, and Napoléon Bonaparte (see napoléon i) would actually later support the songwriter for a number of years. With the Restoration (1814-15), Beranger found his true style: "the liberal republican and patriotic song that was and would remain his greatest achievement" (sainte-beuve). Evoking the spirit of earlier times (notably the Napoleonic era), Beranger's anticlerical satires and political pamphlets in single verse and prose were quite popular (Le Roi d'Yvetot, Le Vieux Sergent, Le Dieu des bonnes gens, Le Sacre de Charles le Simple, La Sainte-Alliance des peoples), but also caused him twice to be imprisoned (1815, 1828) for his sentiments. Beranger's songs were published in four collections (1815, 1821, 1828, and 1830), and his Biographie appeared in 1857 and his Correspondance in 1860.