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Alexandre Soumet (French:[sumɛ]; 18 February 1788 – 30 March 1845) was a Frenchpoet.
Alexandre Soumet was born atCastelnaudary,département ofAude. His love of poetry began at an early age. He was an admirer ofKlopstock andSchiller, then little known in France. Soumet moved to Paris in 1810 and wrote poems in honor ofNapoleon that secured his nomination asauditeur of theConseil d'État. His elegyLa pauvre fille appeared in 1814, and two successful tragedies produced in 1822,Clytemnestre andSaül, secured his admission to theAcademy in 1824.Jeanne d'Arc (1825) was his most critically acclaimed play.Elisabeth de France (1828) was a weak imitation of Schiller'sDon Carlos but Soumet's real bent was towardsepic poetry. A poem inspired by Klopstock,La divine épopée, describes the descent ofChrist intoHades.[1]
Soumet'sNorma, ou L'infanticide (Norma, or TheInfanticide) was adapted byVincenzo Bellini into the well-knownoperaNorma.
UnderLouis XVIII Soumet became librarian ofSaint-Cloud, and subsequently was transferred toRambouillet and toCompiègne.[1]
He died leaving an unfinished epic onJeanne d'Arc. His daughterGabrielle (Mme Beauvain d'Altenheim) collaborated with him in some of his later works.[1]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Soumet, Alexandre".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 437.