Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

OZANAM, ANTOINE FREDERIC (1813-1853)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 429 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

OZANAM, See also:ANTOINE See also:FREDERIC (1813-1853) , See also:French See also:scholar, was See also:born at See also:Milan on the 23rd of See also:April 1813. His See also:family, which was of Jewish extraction, had been settled in the Lyonnais for many centuries, and had reached distinction in the third See also:generation before Frederic through Jacques Ozanam (164o-1717), an eminent mathematician. Ozanam's See also:father, Antoine, served in the armies of the See also:republic, but betook himself, on the See also:advent of the See also:empire, to See also:trade, teaching, and finally See also:medicine. The boy was brought up at See also:Lyons and was strongly influenced by one of his masters, the See also:Abbe Noirot. His conservative and religious instincts showed themselves See also:early, and he published a pamphlet against See also:Saint-Simonianism in 1831, which attracted the attentionof Lamartine. In the following See also:year he was sent to study See also:law at See also:Paris, where he See also:fell in with the See also:Ampere family, and through them with See also:Chateaubriand, See also:Lacordaire, See also:Montalembert; and other leaders of the neo-See also:Catholic See also:movement. Whilst still a student he took up journalism and contributed considerably to See also:Bailly's See also:Tribune catholique, which became (See also:November 1, 1833) L'univers. In See also:conjunction with other See also:young men he founded in May 1833 the celebrated charitable society of St See also:Vincent de See also:Paul, which numbered before his See also:death upwards of two thousand members. He received the degree of See also:doctor of law in 1836, and in 1838 that of doctor of letters with a thesis on See also:Dante, which was the beginning of one of his best-known books. A year later he was appointed to a professorship of commercial law at Lyons, and in 184o assistant See also:professor of See also:foreign literature at the See also:Sorbonne. He married in See also:June 1841, and visited See also:Italy on his See also:wedding tour. At See also:Fauriel's death in 1844 he succeeded to the full professorship of foreign literature.

The shcrt See also:

remainder of his See also:life was extremely busy with his professorial duties, his extensive See also:literary occupations, and the See also:work, which he still continued, of See also:district-visiting as a member of the society of St Vincent de Paul. During the revolution of 1848, of which he took an unduly sanguine view, he once more turned journalist for a See also:short See also:time in the Ere nouvelle and other papers. He travelled extensively, and was in See also:England at the time of the See also:Exhibition of 1851. His naturally weak constitution fell a See also:prey to See also:consumption, which he hoped to cure by visiting Italy, but he died on his return at See also:Marseilles on the 8th of See also:September 1853. Ozanam was the leading See also:historical and literary critic in the neo-Catholic movement in See also:France during the first See also:half of the 19th See also:century. He was more learned, more sincere, and more logical than Chateaubriand; less of a See also:political See also:partisan and less of a literary sentimentalist than Montalembert. In contemporary movements he was an See also:earnest and conscientious See also:advocate of Catholic See also:democracy and See also:socialism and of the view that the See also:church should adapt itself to the changed political conditions consequent to the Revolution. In his writings he dwelt upon important contributions of historical See also:Christianity, and maintained especially that, in continuing the work of the Caesars, the Catholic church had been the most potent See also:factor in civilizing the invading barbarians and in organizing the life of the See also:middle ages. He confessed that his See also:object was " to prove the contrary thesis to See also:Gibbon's," and, although any historian who begins with the See also:desire to prove a thesis is quite sure to go more or less wrong, Ozanam no doubt administered a healthful antidote to the prevalent notion, particularly amongst See also:English-speaking peoples, that the Catholic church had done far more to enslave than to elevate the human mind. His knowledge of See also:medieval literature and his appreciative sympathy with medieval life admirably qualified him for his work, and his scholarly attainments are still highly esteemed. His See also:works were published in eleven volumes (Paris, 1862-1865). They include Deux chanceliers d'Angleterre, See also:Bacon de Verulam et Saint See also:Thomas de Cantorbery (Paris, 1836) ; Dante et la philosophie catholique au XIITeme siecle (Paris, 1839; 2nd ed., enlarged 1845); Etudes germaniques (2 vols., Paris, 1847-1849), translated by A.

C. Glyn as gistory of See also:

Civilization in the Fifth Century (See also:London, 1868) ; Documents inedits pour servir d l'histoire de l'Italie depuis le VIII'n, siecle jusqu'au XI.Pme (Paris, 1850); See also:Les poetes franciscains en Italie au XIIIe+ne siecle (Paris, 1852). His letters have been partially translated into English by A. Coates (London, 1886). There are French lives of Ozanam by his See also:brother, C. A. Ozanam (Paris, 1882) ; Mme. E. See also:Humbert (Paris, 188o); C. Huit (Paris, 1882) ; M. de Lambel (Paris, 1887) ; L. Curnier (Paris, 1888) ; and B. Faulquier (Paris, 1903).

See also:

German lives by F. X. Karker (See also:Paderborn, 1867) and E. See also:Hardy (See also:Mainz, 1878) ; and an interesting English See also:biography by See also:Miss K. O'Meara (See also:Edinburgh, 1867; 2nd ed., London, 1878). (C. H.

End of Article: OZANAM, ANTOINE FREDERIC (1813-1853)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
OYSTERMOUTH, or THE MUMBLES 		[next]
OZIERI

Site © 2006 - Net Industries