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Émile Souvestre (15 April 1806 – 5 July 1854) was a Breton novelist who was a native ofMorlaix, Brittany. Initially unsuccessful as a writer of drama, he fared better as a novelist (he wrote a sci-fi novel,Le Monde Tel Qu'il Sera) and as a researcher and writer ofBreton folklore. He was posthumously awarded thePrix Lambert.
He was the son of a civil engineer and was educated at the college of Pontivy, with the intention of following his father's career by entering the Polytechnic School. However, his father died in 1823 and he matriculated as a law student at Rennes but soon devoted himself to literature.
He was by turns a bookseller's assistant and a private schoolmaster inNantes, a journalist and a grammar school teacher inBrest and a teacher inMulhouse. He settled in Paris in 1836. In 1848 he became professor in the school for the instruction of civil servants initiated byHippolyte Carnot, but which was soon to be cancelled.
He began his literary career with a drama, theSiege de Missolonghi, performed at the Théâtre français in 1828. This tragedy was a pronounced failure. In novel writing he did much better than for the stage, deliberately aiming at making the novel an engine of moral instruction.[1] His first two novelsL'Echelle de Femmes andRiche et Pauvre met with favourable receptions.
Souvestre published a series of articles in 1834 on Breton culture, and then an article on Breton poetry. These were combined and published asLes Derniers Bretons (4 vols, 1835–1837),[2] followed byLe Foyer breton (1844), where the folklore and natural features of his native province are worked up into story form, and inUn Philosophe sous les toits, which received in 1851 an academic prize. He also wrote a number of other works—novels, dramas, essays and miscellanies.[1]
In 1846, Souvestre published the ambitious{{lang|fr|Le Monde Tel Qu'il Sera}} [The World As It Will Be],[3] a full-blowndystopia and science fiction novel which featured some remarkablepredictions. In it, a French couple, Maurice and Marthe are taken to the year 3000 by a man namedJohn Progress on a flying,steam-powered,Time travelinglocomotive. There, they discover the existence of steam-poweredsubways,submarines, synthetic materials imitating real wood, marble, etc., telephone,air conditioning, giant fruits and vegetables obtained through what we would call todaygenetic engineering, etc. The world is onenation, the capital of which isTahiti. Parenting has vanished, because most children are removed from their parents and taken to places where eugenics, genetic manipulation, and different forms of education give rise to somewhat human grotesques tailored for specific tasks. Corporations have enough power to influence government decisions to ensure good profit margins. The medical community manipulates people to ensure that they are seriously sick when they enter, and conducts medical experiments on animals. This is paid for by cutting costs in the food the patients receive. No sympathy or encouragement is given to the poor or disabled. China has become inactive and listless, going into a steep decline after their socio-economic structure was ruined by opium, and wars and murders occur in Persia for idiotic religious reasons. Russia seems more or less a backwater obscurity, and Germany is ajingoistic nation that permits freedom while undermining it at the same time.
Souvestre died in Paris on July 5, 1854. His widow was awarded thePrix Lambert, awarded jointly by theAcadémie française and theAcadémie des Beaux-Arts, for the moral quality of his work.[4] French sculptor and Souvestre's friendPhilippe Grass made his portrait on his tomb at thePère Lachaise Cemetery.[citation needed]
Marie Souvestre, the feminist writer and educator who was a major influence onEleanor Roosevelt, was his daughter.[citation needed][5][6]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Souvestre, Émile".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 518.
