Vilmen, Abel-Francois

Having received an education in the Lyceum of Louis the Great , he soon attracted attention with his talent and at the age of 20 took the place of adjunct at the Department of Literature in the Lyceum of Charlemagne . The lectures of the young professor were such a brilliant success that he was elected leader of conferences on French literature at the Normal School . In 1812, the French Academy announced a competition for the commendable word of Montaigne . Despite the fact that there were several prominent writers among the contenders, the work of Wilman was awarded the prize; before him opened the best Parisian salons.

After the fall of the Empire

When the Empire fell and the Allies entered Paris, the solemn meeting ( April 21, 1814 ) of the French Academy, in which Wilman read his award-winning memoir Avantages et inconvénients de la critique , was attended by Emperor Alexander I and the Prussian king , to whom Wilman and addressed in his opening speech.

In 1816, he received the 3rd academic award for his “Commendable word Montesquieu ” and took the chair of the new history at the Sorbonne , which was not long, replacing it with the department of French literature. The story of Cromwell ( Histoire de Cromwell , Paris, 2 t., 1819) was the fruit of his short-term study of history, caused by the general interest of French society in this era of English history, by analogy between the restoration of the Bourbons and the restoration of Charles II. Vilmen, who was a fine connoisseur of classical literature and a profound connoisseur of France in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, lacked, however, a breadth of historical outlook. He was reproached that, stating the whole course of the English revolution in brilliant language, he left in the shadow the general great ideas underlying this movement.

The uprising in Greece , which caused general sympathy in Europe and inspired Byron , Lamartine , Chateaubriand and Casimir Delavigne , gave Vilmen the idea to write the historical novel Lascaris ou les Grecs de XV siècle (1825), and the historical etude: “ Essai sur l'état des Grecs depuis la conquête musulmane (1825).

Statesman

As a statesman, he belonged to the school of so-called doctrinaires . When in the last years of Charles X's reign the reaction began to intensify, Wilman became close with the opposition and in 1827, on behalf of the French Academy, edited a petition against censorship . Consequently, he had to leave the position in the state council; but his popularity and influence as a professor has increased even more. In 1828–29 Guizot , Cousin, and Vilmen were regarded as advanced positions of liberalism ; and they cannot be denied a great influence on the younger generation preparing for political life.

In early 1830, Vilmen was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, but after the revolution, voters did not continue his powers. In 1832, Louis-Philippe elevated Vilmen to life peers ; In the same year, the French Academy, of which he had been a member since 1831, appointed him as her indispensable secretary. In the House of Peers, Vilmen drew attention to the independence of his political views.

Minister of Education

After the fall of the Cabinet, Mole (1839) took the post of Minister of National Education, first briefly, in the office of Marshal Soult , and then for a longer time, in the office of Guizot. 4 years of extremely tiring struggle went to the holding of the bill on higher and secondary education, in which he tried to reconcile the clerical and liberal demands. The bill was passed, but did not satisfy anyone, and Vilmen retired ( 1844 ), forever leaving political activity; he also did not return to the department he left at which SM Girardin replaced him.

The most outstanding works of Wilman:

• “Cours de littérature française, tableau du XVIII siècle” (1828–1830, 1864);
• “Tableau de l'éloquence chrétienne au IV siècle” (1846; new ed. 1870);
• posthumously published Histoire de Grégoire VII .

And:

• "Discours et mélanges littéraires" (1823),
• "Nouveaux mélanges historiques et littéraires" (1827);
• "Études de littérature ancienne et étrangère" (1846),
• "Études d'histoire moderne" (1846),
• Souvenirs contemporains d'histoire et de littérature (1856),
• “Tribune contemporaine. M. de Chateaubriand "(1857),
• Essais sur le génie de Pyndare (1859);
• La France, l'empire et la papauté, is a pamphlet that has made a lot of noise protecting the pope’s secular power.

Many articles, reviews, prefaces, speeches and academic reports in various journals and books; It is worth mentioning the preface to the dictionary of the 1835 French Academy "Discours sur la langue française".

• Wilman, Abel Francois // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Abel-François Villemain, dans Robert et Cougny, Dictionnaire des parlementaires français, 1889