Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre studied at University of Caen Normandy, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and Lycée Pierre-Corneille. Training under Nicolas Louis de Lacaille is recorded. The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is botany and travel literature. Positions recorded include seat 27 of the Académie française and director of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Works named in the authority record are Paul et Virginie. Distinctions recorded are Knight of the Legion of Honour.

• Name — Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre • Birth Name — Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre • Born — 19 January 1737 • Birthplace — Le Havre, Normandy, Kingdom of France • Died — 21 January 1814 • Place of death — Éragny, Seine-et-Oise, France • Occupation — Writer • Period — 18th century • Genre — Novel, travel narrative • Notable Works — Paul et Virginie • Relatives — Catherine Dorothée de Saint-Pierre (sister)

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's younger sister was Catherine Dorothée de Saint-Pierre. At the age of twelve he had read Robinson Crusoe and went with his uncle, a skipper, to the West-Indies. After returning from this trip he was educated as an engineer at the École des Ponts. Then he joined the French Army and was involved in the Seven Years' War against Prussia and England, but was dismissed for insubordination. After travels around Europe he returned to Paris in 1765. He received a small inheritance on his father's death, and in 1768 he traveled to Mauritius where he served as engineer and studied plants. On his return in 1771 he became friendly with and a pupil of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Together they studied the plants in and around Paris, and Rousseau helped form his character and style. His Voyage à l'Île de France (2 vols., 1773) gained him a reputation as a champion of innocence and religion, and in consequence, through the exertions of the bishop of Aix, a pension of 1000 livres a year. The Études de la nature (3 vols., 1784) was an attempt to prove the existence of God from the wonders of nature; he set up a philosophy of sentiment to oppose the materializing tendencies of the Encyclopaedists. His masterpiece, Paul et Virginie, appeared in 1789 in a supplementary volume of the Études, and his second great success, less sentimental and showing some humour, the Chaumière indienne, not until 1790. In 1795 he was elected to the Institut de France, in 1797 became manager of the Botanical Gardens (Jardin des plantes) in Paris and in 1803 was elected a member of the Académie française. Saint-Pierre was an avid advocate and practitioner of vegetarianism, and although he was a devout Christian was also heavily influenced by Enlightenment-era intellectuals like Voltaire and his mentor Rousseau. In 1792 he married a very young girl, Félicité Didot, who brought him a considerable dowry. After his first wife's death he married in 1800, when he was sixty-three, another young girl, Desirée Pelleport.

• Voyage à l’Île de France, à l’île Bourbon et au cap de Bonne-Espérance (1773) • L’Arcadie (1781) • Études de la nature (1784) • Paul et Virginie (1788) • La Chaumière indienne (1790) • Le Café de Surate (1790) • Les Vœux d’un solitaire (1790) • De la nature de la morale (1798) • Voyage en Silésie (1807) • La Mort de Socrate (1808) • Harmonies de la nature (1815)

The authorities additionally record the headings Bernardin, Henri Bernardin de St. Pierre, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre and Jacques Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. His recorded language was French. He married Félicie Didot and Désirée de Pelleport. 3 children are recorded: Virginie de Saint-Pierre, Paul de Saint-Pierre and Bernardin de Saint-Pierre.

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre worked in botany and travel literature. His work is associated with education. Recorded positions include seat 27 of the Académie française and director of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. He belonged to Académie Française.

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre is recorded as having studied at University of Caen Normandy, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and Lycée Pierre-Corneille. Formation and teaching. Saint-Pierre studied at University of Caen Normandy, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and Lycée Pierre-Corneille. He trained under Nicolas Louis de Lacaille.