The native language of the writer George Sand. George Sand: biography and books

Years of life: from 07/01/1804 to 06/08/1876

George Sand (real name - Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin) - French writer. Known for her novels "Consuelo" and "Countess Rudolstadt".

Family

Aurora Dupin comes from a noble family through her father Maurice. Her great-grandmother was none other than Maria Aurora von Koenigsmarck, sister of Philipp von Koenigsmarck, who was killed on the orders of the Elector of Hanover. Mother was from a simple peasant family.

Maurice Dupin chose a military career. In 1800, in Milan, he met Antoinette-Sophie-Victoria Delaborde, the mistress of his boss, the bird-catcher's daughter, and a former dancer. Soon they registered a marriage, and after some time they had a daughter, whom they named Aurora Lucille Dupin. Because of the origin of the mother, the paternal aristocratic relatives did not like the girl.

Childhood and youth

When the girl was 4 years old, her father died in an accident: a horse in the dark came across a pile of stones. After the death of Maurice, the countess-in-law and the commoner daughter-in-law became close for a while. However, soon Madame Dupin considered that her mother could not give a worthy upbringing to the heiress of a noble family, and Aurora's mother Sophie-Victoria, not wanting to deprive her daughter of a large inheritance, moved to Paris with her illegitimate daughter Carolina. Aurora was very upset by the separation from her mother.

Marriage

At 18, Aurora Dupin married the Baron Dudevant. They had two children, but the marriage did not work out, and it was soon decided to divorce. In 1831, after a divorce, Aurora Dudevant settled in Paris. To feed herself and her children, the girl began to paint on porcelain and sold her fine work. Finally, she decides to take up literature. The first independent novel ("Indiana"), published under the pseudonym George Sand, appeared in 1832 and was a resounding success. The novel raised the topic of women's equality, which she interpreted as a problem of human freedom.

Later life of George Sand

At one of the dinners, George Sand met Alfred de Musset. Correspondence began between them, soon Musset moved into Sand's apartment. After some time they got married.

The crisis in their relationship came during a trip to Italy. The changeable character of Musset made itself felt. Soon, George Sand was tired of constant scandals, and she became the mistress of Dr. Pagello, who treated Alfred. Both Sand and Musset regretted the breakup, correspondence continued between them, but still Sand returned to Paris with Pagello. In the end, Georges finally left Musset, who carried the memory of this painful connection for both through his whole life.

In 1835, when Sand and Musset decided to divorce, the writer turned to the famous lawyer Louis Michel. Soon feelings flared up between them, but Michel was married and was not going to leave his family.

At the end of 1838, Sand began a relationship with Chopin, who by that time had parted ways with his fiancee Maria Vodzinskaya. Together with him and the children, Georges decides to spend the winter in Mallorca, but because of the rainy season that began there, Chopin had coughing fits. Sand and Chopin returned to France. Sand quickly realized that Chopin was dangerously ill and devotedly cared for his health. But no matter how his situation improved, Chopin's character and his illness did not allow him to be in a peaceful state for a long time.

Fearing for his condition, Sand reduced their relationship only to "friendly." Relations with Chopin are reflected in Sand's novel Lucrezia Floriani. But she did not admit that she copied Lucrezia from herself, and Karol from Chopin. And Chopin himself either did not recognize, or did not want to recognize himself in the selfish young man loved by Lucrezia.

Chopin left in 1846. At first, he and George Sand exchanged letters, but her daughter pushed her to a final break.

The last years of her life were peaceful and serene. She spent them among her grandchildren in the family castle in France. George Sand died on June 8, 1876 in Nohant.

Bibliography

Major novels

- (1832)
- (1832)
-Melchior (1832)
-Lelia (1833)
-bark (1833)
-Jacques (1834)
- (1835)
- (Mauprat, 1837)
-Masters of Mosaics (1838)
-Orco (1838)
- (1839)

And she became his mistress. In 1696, she gave birth to a son, Moritz, the lovers broke up even before the birth of the child. Maria Aurora took up residence in the Abbey of Quedlinburg, establishing a popular secular salon there.

In 1748, one of Moritz's mistresses, Marie de Verrières ( real name Rento) gave birth to a daughter, Maria Aurora (1748-1821). Since Marie de Verrières was not faithful to Moritz, the marshal did not include her and her daughter in his will. Marie Aurora turned to Moritz's niece Dauphine Marie Josephine for patronage. She was placed in the convent of Saint-Cyr and assigned an allowance of eight hundred livres. Maria Aurora was considered the daughter of unknown parents, her position scared off potential applicants for her hand. She again turned to the Dauphine so that she was allowed to be called "the illegitimate daughter of the Marshal of France, Count Moritz of Saxony and Marie Rento." Paternity was confirmed by an act of the Parliament of Paris. At 18, Marie Aurora married an infantry captain, Antoine de Horne. He received the post of commandant of the Alsatian town of Celeste. The couple arrived at de Horn's destination five months after the wedding, the next day the forty-four-year-old de Horn fell ill, and died three days later. Maria Aurora settled in a monastery, and later, due to lack of funds, she moved to the house of her mother and aunt. At the age of thirty, she married a second time to the representative of the chief tax-farmer in Berry, Louis-Claude Dupin de Francuy, the former lover of her aunt Genevieve de Verrières. The house of the Dupin spouses was put on a grand scale, they spent a lot on charity, were interested in literature and music. Having been widowed in 1788, Marie-Aurora, together with her son Maurice, moved to Paris. In 1793, believing that life in the provinces was safer, Marie-Aurora bought the estate of Noan-Vic, located between Châteauroux and La Chatre. At first, Madame Dupin, who called herself a follower of Voltaire and Rousseau, sympathized with the revolution. Her attitude to events changed when the terror began, she even signed up for 75,000 livres in a fund to help emigrants. For her belonging to the nobility in December 1793, Madame Dupin was arrested and placed in the monastery of the English Augustines. She was released after the events of 9 Thermidor, and in October 1794 she left with her son for Noan.

Childhood and youth

Aurora Dupin

Maurice Dupin (1778-1808), despite classical education and love of music, chose a military career. Starting as a soldier during the Directory, he received an officer's rank in the Italian campaign. In 1800, in Milan, he met Antoinette-Sophie-Victoria Delaborde (1773-1837), the mistress of his boss, the daughter of a bird-catcher, and a former dancer.

She was already over thirty years old when my father saw her for the first time, and among what a terrible society! My father was generous! He realized that this beautiful creation still able to love...

They registered their marriage at the city hall of the 2nd arrondissement of Paris on June 5, 1804, when Sophie-Victoria was expecting their first common child - Maurice had illegitimate son Hippolyte, Sophie-Victoria had a daughter Caroline.

House of George Sand in Nohant

Aurora's teacher and her stepbrother Hippolyte was Jean-Francois Deschartres, manager of the estate, former mentor Maurice Dupin. In addition to teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and history, her grandmother, an excellent musician, taught her how to play the harpsichord and sing. The girl also took over the love of literature from her. No one was involved in the religious education of Aurora - Madame Dupin, "a woman of the last century, recognized only the abstract religion of philosophers."

Since men's clothes were more comfortable for riding, walking and hunting, Aurora got used to wearing them from childhood.

The girl saw her mother only occasionally, coming with her grandmother to Paris. But Madame Dupin, in an effort to minimize the influence of Sophie-Victoria, tried to shorten these visits. Aurora decided to run away from her grandmother, soon her intention was revealed, and Madame Dupin decided to send Aurora to a monastery. Upon arrival in Paris, Aurora met with Sophie-Victoria, and she approved of her grandmother's plans for the further education of her daughter. Aurora was struck by the coldness of her mother, who at that time was once again arranging her personal life. “Oh my mother! Why don't you love me, me, who loves you so much?" . Her mother was no longer her friend or adviser, later Aurora learned to do without Sophie Victoria, however, without completely breaking with her and maintaining purely outward respect.

In the Augustinian Catholic Monastery, where she entered on January 12, 1818, the girl met religious literature and mystical moods took possession of her. “I perceived this complete merging with the deity as a miracle. I literally burned like Saint Teresa; I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat, I walked without noticing the movements of my body ... ”She decided to become a nun and do the hardest work. However, her confessor, the abbot Premor, who believed that a person can fulfill his duty without leaving secular life, dissuaded Aurora from this intention.

Her grandmother survived the first blow and, fearing that Aurora might remain under the care of "her unworthy mother", she decided to marry the girl. Aurora left the monastery, which became for her "heaven on earth". Soon the grandmother decided that the granddaughter was still too young for family life. Aurora tried to reconcile her mother and grandmother, but was defeated. She invited her mother to stay with her, but Sophie Victoria did not agree to this. In 1820, Aurora returned with her grandmother to Nohant. A wealthy heiress, Aurora was nevertheless not considered an enviable match due to a string of illegitimate births in the family and the low origin of the mother.

As a result of the second blow, Madame Dupin was paralyzed, and Dechartre transferred to the girl all the rights to manage the estate. Dechartre, who was mayor of Nohant, also acted as an apothecary and surgeon, Aurora assisted him. At the same time, Aurora became fascinated philosophical literature, studied Chateaubriand, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Aristotle, Pascal, but most of all she admired Rousseau, believing that only he has true Christianity, "which requires absolute equality and fraternity."

She took long rides on Colette's horse: "We had to live and ride together for fourteen years." Aurora was criticized by those around her for her way of life, the freedom she enjoyed was unthinkable at that time for a person of her sex and age, but she did not pay attention to it. In La Chatre, Aurora was friends with her peers, the sons of her father's friends: Duvernay, Fleury, Pape. With one of them - Stephane Ajasson de Grandsagne, a student who taught her anatomy, an affair began. But youthful love did not lead to anything: for Gransan's father, the count, she was the daughter of a commoner, but her grandmother would not have agreed to this marriage because of Stefan's poverty.

Aurora's grandmother died on December 26, 1821, having agreed, to the surprise of her believing granddaughter, to take unction and take communion before her death. “I am convinced that I am not committing any meanness or lies, agreeing to a ceremony that, at the hour of separation from loved ones, serves as a good example. May you have peace of mind, I know what I'm doing. Grandmother insisted that Aurora be present at her confession. WITH last words Madame Dupin turned to her granddaughter: "You are losing your best friend."

Marriage

According to the will of Madame Dupin, custody of the seventeen-year-old girl was transferred to Count Rene de Villeneuve, and Aurora herself was supposed to live in Chenonceau, in the family of the Count. However, the girl's mother insisted on leading her. The Villeneuve abstained from guardianship - they did not want to deal with an "adventurer" of low origin. Aurora obeyed her mother "out of a sense of duty" and justice - class prejudices were alien to her. Soon there was a conflict between mother and daughter: Sophie-Victoria forced Aurora to marry a man to whom she had not the slightest inclination. Aurora was furious. Her mother threatened her with imprisonment in a monastery.

“You'll be better off here. We'll alert the community at your expense; here they will beware of your eloquence. Get ready for the thought that you will have to live in this cell until you come of age, that is, three and a half years. Do not try to appeal to the help of laws; no one will hear your complaints; and neither your defenders, nor you yourself will ever know where you are ... ”But then - either they were ashamed of such a despotic act, or they were afraid of the retribution of the law, or they just wanted to scare me, - this plan was abandoned. .

Aurora realized that a lonely woman without protection is doomed to face difficulties at every turn. Due to nervous tension, she fell ill: "she began to have cramps in her stomach, which refused to eat." Sophie Victoria left her daughter alone for a while. In 1822, Aurora was visiting the family of her father's friend, Colonel Retier du Plessis. Through the du Plessis, she met Casimir Dudevant (1795-1871), the illegitimate son of the Baron Dudevant, owner of the Guillieri estate in Gascony. Suffering from loneliness, she "fell in love with him as the personification of masculinity." Casimir made an offer not through relatives, as was then customary, but personally to Aurora, and thus conquered her. She was sure that Casimir was not interested in her dowry, since he was the only heir to his father and his wife.

Despite his mother's doubts, in September, Aurora and Casimir got married in Paris and left for Nohant. Casimir replaced Deschartres as the manager of Noan, and the couple began to lead the life of ordinary landowners. On June 30, 1823, Aurora gave birth to a son, Maurice, in Paris. The husband was not interested in books or music, he hunted, engaged in "local politics" and feasted with local noblemen like him. Soon, Aurora was seized by bouts of melancholy, which irritated her husband, who did not understand what was happening. For the romantically inclined Aurora, who dreamed of "love in the spirit of Rousseau", the physiological side of marriage was a shock. But at the same time, she retained affection for Casimir - honest man and a great father. She was able to regain some peace of mind by communicating with her mentors in the English Catholic monastery, where she moved with her son. But Maurice fell ill, and Aurora returned home.

There comes a time when you feel the need for love, exceptional love! It is necessary that everything that happens has to do with the object of love. I wanted you to have both charm and gifts for him alone. You didn't see it in me. My knowledge turned out to be unnecessary, because you did not share it with me.

Aurora felt unwell, her husband believed that all her illnesses exist only in her imagination. Quarrels between spouses became more frequent.

Solange Dudevant

At the end of 1825, the Dudevant couple made a trip to the Pyrenees. There, Aurora met Aurélien de Cez, a fellow prosecutor of the Court of Bordeaux. The affair with de Cez was platonic - Aurora felt happy and at the same time reproached herself for having changed her attitude towards her husband. In her "Confession", which she wrote to her husband on the advice of de Cez, Aurora explained in detail the reasons for her act, that her feelings did not resonate with Casimir, that she changed her life for him, but he did not appreciate it. Returning to Nohant, Aurora maintained a correspondence with de Cez. At the same time, she again meets with Stéphane Ajasson de Gransan and the youthful romance continues. On September 13, 1828, Aurora gives birth to a daughter, Solange (1828-1899), all Sand's biographers agree that Ajasson de Grandsagne was the girl's father. Soon the Dudevant couple actually separated. Casimir began to drink and made several love affairs with the Noan servants.

Aurora felt that it was time to change the situation: her new lover, Jules Sando, left for Paris, she wished to follow him. She left the estate to her husband in exchange for an annuity, on the condition that she would spend half a year in Paris, the other six months in Nohant, and maintain the appearance of a marriage.

The beginning of literary activity

Auguste Charpentier. Portrait of George Sand

Aurora arrived in Paris on January 4, 1831. A pension of three thousand francs was not enough to live on. Out of savings she wore men's suit, besides, he became a pass to the theater: the stalls - the only places that she and her friends could afford, the ladies were not allowed.

To earn money, Aurora decided to write. In Paris, she brought a novel ("Aimé"), which she intended to show to de Keratri, a member of the Chamber of Deputies and a writer. He, however, advised her not to study literature. On the recommendation of her friend from La Chatre, Aurora turned to the journalist and writer Henri de Latouche, who had just headed Le Figaro. The novel "Aime" did not impress him, but he offered Ms. Dudevant cooperation in the newspaper and introduced him to the Parisian literary world. A brief journalistic style was not her element, she was more successful in lengthy descriptions of nature and characters.

More decisively than ever, I choose the literary profession. Despite the troubles that sometimes happen in it, despite the days of laziness and fatigue that sometimes interrupt my work, despite my more than modest life in Paris, I feel that from now on my existence is meaningful.

At first, Aurora wrote with Sando: the novels "The Commissioner" (1830), "Rose and Blanche" (1831), which had readers big success, came out for his signature, since Casimir Dudevant's stepmother did not want to see her last name on book covers. In "Rose and Blanche" Aurora used her memories of the monastery, notes about a trip to the Pyrenees, the stories of her mother. Already independently Aurora started new job, the novel "Indiana", the theme of which was the opposition of a woman seeking perfect love, sensual and conceited man. Sando approved the novel, but refused to sign someone else's text. Aurora chose male alias: it became for her a symbol of deliverance from the slave position, which doomed a woman modern society. Keeping the surname Sand, she added the name Georges.

Latouche considered that in "Indiana" Aurora copied the style of Balzac, however, after reading the novel more carefully, he changed his mind. The success of Indiana, lauded by Balzac and Gustave Planche, allowed her to sign a contract with the Revue de Deux Monde and gain financial independence.

By that time, the beginning of Sand's friendship with Marie Dorval, famous actress romantic era.

To understand what power she (Dorval) has over me, one would have to know to what extent she is not like me ... She! God put a rare gift in her - the ability to express her feelings ... This woman, so beautiful, so simple, did not learn anything: she guesses everything ...<…>And when this fragile woman appears on the stage with her broken figure, with her careless gait, with a sad and penetrating look, then you know what I imagine? ... It seems to me that I see my soul ...

Sand was credited with a love affair with Dorval, but these rumors are not confirmed by anything. In 1833, the novel Lelia was published, which caused a scandal. The main character (in many ways this is a self-portrait), in pursuit of happiness, which gives other women, but not her, physical love, goes from lover to lover. Later, regretting that she had betrayed herself, George Sand corrected the novel, removing confessions of impotence and giving it a greater moral and social coloring. Jules Janin in the Journal de Debas called the book "disgusting", the journalist Capo de Feuyid "demanded a 'flaming coal' to cleanse his lips of these base and shameless thoughts..." Gustave Planche published a positive review in the Revue de Deux Monde and challenged Capo de Feuyid to a duel. Sainte-Beuve wrote to Sand:

The general public, demanding in the reading room to be given a book, will refuse this novel. But on the other hand, he will be highly appreciated by those who see in him the most vivid expression of the eternal thoughts of mankind ... To be a woman who has not yet reached thirty years old, according to appearance who cannot even understand when she managed to explore such bottomless depths; to carry this knowledge in oneself, a knowledge that would make our hair come out and our temples turn gray - to carry it with ease, ease, maintaining such restraint in expressions - this is what I first of all admire in you; really, madam, you are an extremely strong, rare nature ...

George Sand and Alfred de Musset

Alfred de Musset

In April 1835 he spoke for the defense at the trial of the Insurgents of Lyon. Sand followed him to Paris to attend the hearings and take care of Michel, who "spoiled himself not in the defense of the April defendants."

In January 1836, Sand filed a complaint against her husband with the court of La Chatre. After hearing the witnesses, the court entrusted the upbringing of the children to Madame Dudevant. Casimir Dudevant, afraid of losing his rent, did not defend himself and agreed to a sentence in absentia. However, soon after the division of property between former spouses disagreements arose. Dudevant appealed the court's decision and set out his claims to his wife in a special memorandum. Michel was the defender of Sand in the divorce proceedings resumed in May 1836. His eloquence impressed the judges, but their opinions were divided. But the next day, Casimir Dudevant went to the world: he had to raise his son and received the Narbonne Hotel in Paris for use. Madame Dudevant was entrusted with her daughter, and Nohant remained behind her.

Sand broke up with Michel Sand in 1837 - he was married and had no intention of leaving his family.

Christian socialism

Prone, like George Sand, to mysticism, Franz Liszt introduced the writer to Lamennay. She immediately became an ardent supporter of his views and even went to some cooling of relations with Sainte-Beuve, who criticized the abbot for inconsistency. For the Le Monde newspaper founded by Lamennay, Sand offered to write for free, reprimanding herself for the freedom to choose and cover topics. "Letters to Marcy," a correspondence in the form of a novel, included actual messages from Sand to the poor dowry Eliza Tourangin. When in the "Sixth Letter" Sand touched on gender equality in love, Lamenne was shocked, and after learning that the next one would be devoted to "the role of passion in a woman's life", he stopped publishing.

... he (Lamennay) does not want to be written about a divorce; he expects from her (Sand) those flowers that fall from her hands, that is, fairy tales and jokes. Marie d'Agout to Franz Liszt

However, the main reason for the breakup between Lamennay and Sand was that she was a faithful follower of the philosophy of Pierre Leroux. Most of Leroux's ideas were borrowed from Christianity, Leroux only did not allow the immortality of the individual. He also advocated equality of the sexes in love and the improvement of marriage as one of the conditions for the emancipation of women. According to Sand, Leroux, “the new Plato and Christ”, “saved” her, who found in his teaching “calmness, strength, faith, hope”. For fifteen years, Sand supported Leroux, including financially. Under the influence of Leroux, Sand wrote the novels Spiridion (co-authored with Leroux) and The Seven Strings of the Lyre. In 1848, after leaving the conservative edition of the Revue des Deux Mondes, she founded, together with Louis Viardot and Leroux, the newspaper Revue Independente. Sand published her novels Horace, Consuelo and Countess Rudolstadt in it. She supported poets from the proletarian milieu - Savignen Lapointe, Charles Magu, Charles Ponsy and promoted their work ("Dialogues on the Poetry of the Proletarians", 1842). In her new novels (The Wandering Apprentice, The Miller from Anzhibo), the virtue of the proletarians was opposed to the "egoism of the noble rich."

George Sand and Chopin

At the end of 1838, Sand began a relationship with Chopin, who by that time had parted ways with his fiancee Maria Vodzinskaya. Hoping that the climate of Mallorca will have a beneficial effect on Chopin's health, Sand decides to spend the winter there with him and the children. Her expectations were not justified: the rainy season began, Chopin had coughing fits. In February they returned to France. Sand recognizes himself as the head of the family. From now on, she tries to live only for children, Chopin and her work. To save winter they spent in Paris. The difference in characters, political preferences, jealousy for a long time could not prevent them from maintaining affection. Sand quickly realized that Chopin was dangerously ill and devotedly cared for his health. But no matter how his situation improved, Chopin's character and his illness did not allow him to be in a peaceful state for a long time.

This is a man of extraordinary sensitivity: the slightest touch to him is a wound, the slightest noise is a thunderclap; a person who recognizes a conversation only face to face, gone into some mysterious life and only occasionally showing himself in some irrepressible antics, charming and funny. Heinrich Heine

Some of the friends felt sorry for Sand, calling Chopin her " evil genius' and 'cross'. Fearing for his condition, she reduced their relationship to purely friendly, Chopin suffered from this state of affairs and attributed her behavior to other hobbies.

If any woman could inspire complete confidence in him, then it was me, and he never understood this ... I know that many people accuse me - some for wearing him down with the unbridledness of my feelings, others for that I bring him to despair with my foolishness. I think you know what's going on. And he, he complains to me that I am killing him with refusals, while I am sure that I would have killed him if I had done otherwise ... From a letter from George Sand to Albert Grzhimala, Chopin's friend.

Relations with Chopin are reflected in Sand's novel Lucrezia Floriani. Subsequently, she denied that she wrote off Lucrezia from herself, and Karol from Chopin. Chopin did not recognize or did not wish to recognize himself in the image young man, a charming egoist, beloved by Lucrezia and who caused her untimely death. In 1846, a conflict broke out between Chopin and Maurice, as a result of which the latter announced his desire to leave the house. Sand took the son's side:

It could not be, it should not have been, Chopin could not bear my interference in all this, although it was necessary and legal. He lowered his head and said that I fell out of love with him. What blasphemy after eight years of maternal selflessness! But the poor offended heart was unaware of its madness...

Chopin left in November 1846, at first he and Georges exchanged letters. Chopin was pushed to the final break by his daughter Sand. Solange, having quarreled with her mother, came to Paris and turned Chopin against her.

... she hates her mother, slanders her, blackens her most holy motives, defiles her with terrible speeches native home! You like to hear it all and maybe even believe it. I will not enter into such a struggle, it terrifies me. I prefer to see you in a hostile camp than to defend myself against an adversary who is nourished by my breast and my milk. George Sand - Frederic Chopin.

Last time Sand and Chopin met by chance in March 1848:

I thought that a few months of separation would heal the wound and restore peace to friendship, and justice to memories ... I shook his cold, trembling hand. I wanted to talk to him - he disappeared. Now I could tell him, in turn, that he stopped loving me.

With Solange, who married the sculptor Auguste Clézenger, the composer maintained friendly relations until his death.

Revolution and Second Empire

After the events of May 15, 1848, when a mob of demonstrators tried to take over the National Assembly, some newspapers blamed it for inciting a riot. There were rumors that she would be arrested. Sand remained in Paris for two more days to "be at hand with justice if it took it into her head to settle scores with me," and returned to Nohant.

After the December coup of 1851, she achieved an audience with Louis Napoleon and gave him a letter calling for an end to the persecution of political opponents. With the help of Napoleon-Joseph Sand, the fate of many republicans was mitigated. Since the proclamation of Louis Napoleon as emperor, she no longer saw him, turning to the Empress, Princess Mathilde or Prince Napoleon for help.

Last years

During the years of the Second Empire, anti-clerical sentiments appeared in Sand's work as a reaction to the policies of Louis Napoleon. Her novel Danielle (1857), which attacked the Catholic religion, caused a scandal, and the newspaper La Presse, in which it was published, was closed.

George Sand died from complications of intestinal obstruction on June 8 at her estate Nohant. Upon learning of her death, Hugo wrote: “I mourn the deceased, I salute the immortal!”

Compositions

Major novels

Indiana (Indiana, 1832)
Valentine (Valentine, 1832)
Melchior (Melchior, 1832)
Lelia (Lélia, 1833)
Cora (Cora, 1833)
Jacques (Jacques, 1834)
Metella (Métella, 1834)
Leone Leoni (1835)
Mauprat (Mauprat, 1837)
Mosaic Masters (Les Maîtres mozaistes, 1838)
Orco (L'Orco, 1838)
Uskok (L'Uscoque, 1838)
Spiridion (Spiridion, 1839)
Traveling apprentice (Le Compagnon du tour de France, 1841)
Horace (Horace, 1842)
Consuelo (Consuelo, 1843)
Countess Rudolstadt (La Comtesse de Rudolstadt, 1843)
Miller from Angibault (Le Meunier d'Angibault, 1845)
Damn swamp (La Mare au diable, 1846)
Sin of Monsieur Antoine (Le Péché de M. Antoine, 1847)
Lucrezia Floriani (1847)
Piccinino (Le Piccinino, 1847)
Little Fadette (La Petite Fadette, 1849)
Francois the Foundling (François le Champi, 1850)
Mont Reveche (1853)
History of my life (Histoire de ma vie, 1855)
The Fair Gentlemen of Bois-Doré (Ces beaux messieurs de Bois-Doré, 1858)
She and He (Elle et lui, 1859)
Snowman (L'Homme de neige, 1859)
Marquis de Villemer (1861)
Confession of a Young Girl (La Confession d'une jeune fille, 1865)
Pierre Tumbleweed (Pierre qui roule, 1870)
Nanon (1872)

Prose

Commissioner (Le Commissionnaire, 1830, with Jules Sandeau).
Rose and Blanche (1831, with Jules Sandeau)
Girl from Albano (La Fille d'Albano, 1831)
Aldo le Rimeur (1833)
Conspiracy in 1537 (Une conspiration en 1537, 1833)
Intimate diary (Journal intime, 1834)
Private Secretary (Le Secrétaire intime, 1834)
Marquise (La Marquise, 1834)
Garnier (Garnier, 1834)
Lavinia (Lavinia, 1834)
Andre (André, 1835)
Mattea (Mattea, 1835)
Simon (Simon, 1836)
The Last of Aldini (La Dernière Aldini, 1838)
Pauline from the Mississippi (Pauline. Les Mississipiens, 1840)
The Seven Strings of the Lyre (Les Sept Cordes de la lyre, 1840)
Mony Rubin (Mouny Roubin, 1842)
Georges de Guérin (1842)
Winter in Mallorca (Un hiver à Majorque, 1842)
Dialogues on the Poetry of the Proletarians (1842, article)
The Younger Sister (La Sœur cadette, 1843)
Koroglu (Kouroglou, 1843)
Karl (Carl, 1843)
Jan Zizka (1843)
Jeanne (1844)
Isidora (Isidora, 1846)
Teverino (Teverino, 1846)
Champagne Holidays (Les Noces de campagne, 1846)
Evenor and Lesippus. Love in the Golden Age (Evenor et Leucippe. Les Amours de l "Âge d'or, 1846)
The Castle of Solitude (Le Château des Désertes, 1851)
The story of a true dupe named Griboul (Histoire du véritable Gribouille, 1851)
La Fauvette du docteur (1853)
Goddaughter (La Filleule, 1853)
Country Musicians (Les Maîtres sonneurs, 1853)
Adrians (Adriani, 1854)
Around the table (Autour de la table, 1856)
Daniella (La Daniella, 1857)
The Devil in the Fields (Le Diable aux champs, 1857)
Rural walks (Promenades autour d'un village, 1857)
Jean de la Roche (1859)
Narcissus (Narcisse, 1859)
Green Ladies (Les Dames vertes, 1859)
Constance Verrier (1860)
Rural Evenings (La Ville noire, 1861)
Valverde (Valvèdre, 1861)
The Germand family (La Famille de Germandre, 1861)
Tamaris (Tamaris, 1862)
Mademoiselle La Quintinie (1863)
Antonia (Antonia, 1863)
Laura (Laura, 1865)
Monsieur Sylvestre (1866)
Flavia (Flavie, 1866)
Last Love (Le Dernier Amour, 1867)
Cadio (Cadio, 1868)
Mademoiselle Merquem (1868)
Beautiful Laurence (Le Beau Laurence, 1870)
Against All Odds (Malgré tout, 1870)
Caesarine Dietrich (1871)
Diary of a Wartime Traveler (Journal d'un voyageur pendant la guerre, 1871)
Francia (Francia. Un bienfait n'est jamais perdu, 1872)
Grandmother's Tales (Contes d'une grand'mère vol. 1, 1873)
My Sister Jeanne (Ma sœur Jeanne, 1874)
Flamand (Flamarande, 1875)
Two Brothers (Les Deux Frères, 1875)
Percemont Tower (La Tour de Percemont, 1876)
Grandma's Tales (Contes d'une grand'mère vol. 2, 1876)
Marianne (Marianne, 1876)
Rural Legends (Legendes rustiques, 1877)

Notes

George Sand. Story of my life. Quoted from: A. Morois. Lelia, or the life of George Sand. - M.: Pravda, 1990. p. 33
Hippolyte Shatiron (1798-1848). Subsequently, the owner of the castle of Montgivret near Nohant. He was married to Emilie de Villeneuve
George Sand. Story of my life. Quoted from: A. Morois. Lelia, or the life of George Sand. - M.: Pravda, 1990. p. 41
A. Morua. Lelia, or the life of George Sand. - M.: Pravda, 1990. p. 41
Cit. Quoted from: A. Morois. Lelia, or the life of George Sand. - M.: Pravda, 1990. p. 44
George Sand. Story of my life. Quoted from: A. Morois. Lelia, or the life of George Sand. - M.: Pravda, 1990. p. 50
George Sand, Histoire de ma vie, I, p. 1007
A. Morua. Lelia, or the life of George Sand. - M.: Pravda, 1990. p. 61

(George Sand, real name - Amandine Lucy Aurora Dupin, married - Dudevant) was born July 1, 1804 in Paris (France).

Her father, Maurice Dupin, belonged to a noble aristocratic family, descended from the Duke of Saxony. The mother was from a simple family. During the Revolution of 1789, Maurice Dupin joined the revolutionary army, participated in several Napoleonic campaigns and died young.

Aurora Dupin spent most of her childhood at her grandmother's house in Nohant (province of Berry).

Young Aurora studied at the English Catholic Institute-Monastery in Paris. After receiving her education, the girl returned to Nohant, at the age of 18 she married Baron Casimir Dudevant. In this marriage, two children were born, but the marriage did not work out, and the couple broke up after eight years of family life. In 1831, after a divorce, Aurora Dudevant settled in Paris. To feed herself and her children, she took up painting on porcelain and sold her works quite successfully, then took up literary work.

The literary activity of Aurora Dudevant began with a collaboration with the writer Jules Sando. Their novel Rose and Blanche was published in 1831 under the pseudonym Jules Sand and was a success. In 1832, Aurora Dudevant's first independent novel, Indiana, was published under the pseudonym George Sand. The novel raised the topic of women's equality, which she interpreted as a problem of human freedom. This was followed by the novels "Valentina" (1832), "Lelia" (1833), "André" (1835), "Simon" (1836), "Jacques" (1834), etc. From 1832 until the end of her life, Sand wrote annually a novel, and sometimes two or three, not counting stories, short stories and articles.

From the mid-1830s, George Sand was fond of the ideas of the Saint-Simonists (a current of social utopianism), the views of the left-wing republicans.

The dominant note of her novels was the idea of the injustice of social inequality. The central figures of her novels were the peasants and workers of the city (Horas, 1842; Comrade of Circular Travels in France, 1840; Monsieur Antoine's Sin, 1847; Jeanne, 1844; Miller from Anzhibo, 1845-1846) .

In the novels "Devil's Puddle" (1846), "Francois the Foundling" (1847-1848), "Little Fadette" (1848-1849), George Sand idealized the patriarchal village mores.

Her most notable work of those years was the novel Consuelo (1842-1843).

George Sand took part in February Revolution 1848, was close to the radical circles of the republican left, edited the Bulletin de la Republique (Bulletins de la republique). After the suppression of the revolutionary uprising in June 1848, Sand moved away from social activities, wrote novels in the spirit of the early romantic works"Snowman" (1858), "Jean de la Roche" (1859) and others.

During the same period of her life, George Sand became interested in dramatic art and wrote whole line plays, of which François the Foundling (1849; based on the novel of the same name), Claudia (1851), Quiz's Marriage (1851), and Marquis de Villemer (1867) had the greatest success.

Since the 1840s, George Sand has been popular in Russia. She was admired by Ivan Turgenev, Nikolai Nekrasov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vissarion Belinsky, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, Alexander Herzen.

In 1854-1858, her multi-volume History of My Life was published, which aroused great interest among readers. Her last significant works are "Grandmother's Tales" (1873), a series of "Memories and Impressions" (1873).

George Sand spent the last years of her life on her estate in Nohant. She died June 8, 1876.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

George Sand (fr. George Sand), real name - Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin (fr. Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin). Born July 1, 1804 - died June 8, 1876. French writer.

Aurora Dupin's great-grandfather was Moritz of Saxony. In 1695, Maria Aurora von Königsmarck (1662-1728), the sister of Philip von Königsmarck, who was killed on the orders of the Elector of Hanover, while investigating the causes of her brother's death, met the Elector of Saxony, the future King of Poland, Augustus the Strong, and became his mistress. In 1696, she gave birth to a son, Moritz, the lovers broke up even before the birth of the child. Maria Aurora settled in the Abbey of Quedlinburg, creating a popular secular salon there.

Moritz of Saxony, who from an early age had an attraction to military affairs, was raised by his father. At his insistence, Moritz made a foot trip through Europe in the most severe conditions: he carried military equipment with him and ate only soup and bread. At the age of thirteen, he already participated in the battle and received an officer's rank. Starting your military career with his father, Moritz of Saxony served in Russia and France, distinguished himself in the War of the Austrian Succession.

In 1748, one of Moritz's mistresses, Marie de Verrières (real name Rento), gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Aurora (1748-1821). Since Marie de Verrières was not faithful to Moritz, the marshal did not include her and her daughter in his will. Maria Aurora turned for patronage to Moritz's niece Dauphine Maria Josephine. She was placed in the convent of Saint-Cyr and assigned an allowance of eight hundred livres. Maria Aurora was considered the daughter of unknown parents, her position scared off potential applicants for her hand. She again turned to the Dauphine so that she was allowed to be called "the illegitimate daughter of the Marshal of France, Count Moritz of Saxony and Marie Rento." Paternity was confirmed by an act of the Parliament of Paris.

At 18, Marie Aurora married an infantry captain, Antoine de Horne. He received the post of commandant of the Alsatian town of Celeste. The couple arrived at de Horn's destination five months after the wedding, the next day the forty-four-year-old de Horn fell ill, and died three days later. Maria Aurora settled in a monastery, and later, due to lack of funds, she moved to the house of her mother and aunt. At the age of thirty, she married a second time to the representative of the chief tax-farmer in Berry, Louis-Claude Dupin de Francuy, the former lover of her aunt Genevieve de Verrières. The house of the Dupin spouses was put on a grand scale, they spent a lot on charity, were interested in literature and music. Having been widowed in 1788, Marie-Aurora, together with her son Maurice, moved to Paris.

In 1793, believing that life in the provinces was safer, Marie-Aurora bought the estate of Noan-Vic, located between Châteauroux and La Chatre. At first, Madame Dupin, who called herself a follower of and, sympathized with the revolution. Her attitude to events changed when the terror began, she even signed up for 75,000 livres in a fund to help emigrants. For her belonging to the nobility in December 1793, Madame Dupin was arrested and placed in the monastery of the English Augustines. She was released after the events of 9 Thermidor, and in October 1794 she left with her son for Noan.

Maurice Dupin (1778-1808), despite his classical education and love of music, chose a military career. Having started his service as a soldier during the Directory, he received an officer's rank in the Italian campaign. In 1800, in Milan, he met Antoinette-Sophie-Victoria Delaborde (1773-1837), the mistress of his boss, the daughter of a bird-catcher, and a former dancer.

They registered their marriage at the city hall of the 2nd arrondissement of Paris on June 5, 1804, when Sophie-Victoria was expecting their first common child - Maurice had an illegitimate son, Hippolyte, Sophie-Victoria had a daughter, Caroline.

On July 1, 1804, in Paris, Sophie-Victoria gave birth to a girl named Aurora. Maurice's mother did not want to admit for a long time unequal marriage son, the birth of a granddaughter softened her heart, but the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law remained cold. In the spring of 1808, Colonel Maurice Dupin, Murat's adjutant, took part in the Spanish campaign. Pregnant Sophie Victoria followed him with her daughter. Here, on June 12, Sophie-Victoria gave birth to a son, Auguste. On September 8 of the same year, the family left the country with the retreating troops and returned to Nohant. On the way, the children fell ill: Aurora recovered, the boy died. Four days after his return, Maurice died in an accident while riding a horse: the horse ran into a pile of stones in the dark.

After the death of Aurora's father, the countess-in-law and the commoner daughter-in-law became close for a while. However, soon Madame Dupin considered that her mother could not give a worthy upbringing to Noan's heiress, in addition, she did not want to see Sophie-Victoria's daughter Caroline in her house. After long hesitation, Aurora's mother, not wanting to deprive her of a large inheritance, left her with her grandmother, moving with Caroline to Paris. Aurora was very upset by the separation: “My mother and grandmother tore my heart to shreds”.

The teacher of Aurora and her half-brother Hippolyte was Jean-Francois Deschartres, manager of the estate, former mentor of Maurice Dupin. In addition to teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and history, her grandmother, an excellent musician, taught her how to play the harpsichord and sing. The girl also took over the love of literature from her. No one was involved in the religious education of Aurora - Madame Dupin, "a woman of the last century, recognized only the abstract religion of philosophers."

Since men's clothes were more comfortable for riding, walking and hunting, Aurora got used to wearing them from childhood.

The girl saw her mother only occasionally, coming with her grandmother to Paris. But Madame Dupin, in an effort to minimize the influence of Sophie-Victoria, tried to shorten these visits. Aurora decided to run away from her grandmother, soon her intention was revealed, and Madame Dupin decided to send Aurora to a monastery. Upon arrival in Paris, Aurora met with Sophie-Victoria, and she approved of her grandmother's plans for the further education of her daughter. Aurora was struck by the coldness of her mother, who at that time was once again arranging her personal life: “Oh my mother! Why don't you love me, me, who loves you so much?". Her mother was no longer her friend or adviser, later Aurora learned to do without Sophie Victoria, however, without completely breaking with her and maintaining purely outward respect.

In the Augustinian Catholic Monastery, where she entered on January 12, 1818, the girl became acquainted with religious literature and mystical moods seized her. “I perceived this complete merging with the deity as a miracle. I literally burned like Saint Teresa; I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat, I walked without noticing the movements of my body ... ”She decided to become a nun and do the hardest work. However, her confessor, Abbot Premor, who believed that a person could fulfill his duty without leaving secular life, dissuaded Aurora from this intention.

Her grandmother survived the first blow and, fearing that Aurora might remain under the care of "her unworthy mother", she decided to marry the girl. Aurora left the monastery, which became for her "heaven on earth." Soon the grandmother decided that her granddaughter was still too young for family life. Aurora tried to reconcile her mother and grandmother, but was defeated. She invited her mother to stay with her, but Sophie Victoria did not agree to this. In 1820, Aurora returned with her grandmother to Nohant. A wealthy heiress, Aurora nevertheless was not considered an enviable match due to a string of illegitimate births in the family and the low birth of her mother.

As a result of the second blow, Madame Dupin was paralyzed, and Dechartre transferred to the girl all the rights to manage the estate. Dechartre, who was mayor of Nohant, also acted as an apothecary and surgeon, Aurora assisted him. At the same time, Aurora became interested in philosophical literature, studied Chateaubriand, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Aristotle, Pascal, but most of all she admired Rousseau, believing that only he has true Christianity, "which requires absolute equality and fraternity."

She took long rides on Colette's horse: "We had to live and travel together for fourteen years". Aurora was criticized by those around her for her way of life, the freedom she enjoyed was unthinkable at that time for a person of her sex and age, but she did not pay attention to it. In La Chatre, Aurora was friends with her peers, the sons of her father's friends: Duvernay, Fleury, Pape. With one of them - Stephane Ajasson de Grandsagne, a student who taught her anatomy, an affair began. But youthful love did not lead to anything: for Gransan's father, the count, she was the daughter of a commoner, but her grandmother would not have agreed to this marriage because of Stefan's poverty.

Aurora's grandmother died on December 26, 1821, having agreed, to the surprise of her believing granddaughter, to take unction and take communion before her death. “I am convinced that I do not commit any meanness or lies, agreeing to a ceremony that, at the hour of separation from loved ones, serves as a good example. Keep your heart at ease, I know what I'm doing". Grandmother insisted that Aurora be present at her confession. With the last words, Madame Dupin turned to her granddaughter: "You are losing your best friend".

Despite their mother's doubts, in September 1822, Aurora and Casimir got married in Paris and left for Nohant. Casimir replaced Deschartres as the manager of Noan, and the couple began to lead the life of ordinary landowners. On June 30, 1823, Aurora gave birth to a son, Maurice, in Paris. The husband was not interested in books or music, he hunted, engaged in "local politics" and feasted with local nobles like him. Soon, Aurora was seized by bouts of melancholy, which irritated her husband, who did not understand what was happening. For the romantically inclined Aurora, who dreamed of "love in the spirit of Rousseau", the physiological side of marriage was a shock. But at the same time, she retained affection for Casimir - an honest man and an excellent father. She was able to regain some peace of mind by communicating with her mentors in the English Catholic monastery, where she moved with her son. But Maurice fell ill, and Aurora returned home.

Aurora felt unwell, her husband believed that all her illnesses exist only in her imagination. Quarrels between spouses became more frequent.

At the end of 1825, the Dudevant couple traveled to the Pyrenees. There, Aurora met Aurelien de Cez, a fellow prosecutor of the court of Bordeaux. The affair with de Cez was platonic - Aurora felt happy and at the same time reproached herself for having changed her attitude towards her husband.

In her "Confession", which she wrote to her husband on the advice of de Cez, Aurora explained in detail the reasons for her act, that her feelings did not resonate with Casimir, that she changed her life for him, but he did not appreciate it. Returning to Nohant, Aurora maintained a correspondence with de Cez. At the same time, she again meets with Stéphane Ajasson de Gransan, and the youthful romance gets its continuation. On September 13, 1828, Aurora gives birth to a daughter, Solange (1828-1899), all Sand's biographers agree that Ajasson de Grandsagne was the girl's father. Soon the Dudevant couple actually separated. Casimir began to drink and made several love affairs with the Noan servants.

Aurora felt that it was time to change the situation: her new lover, Jules Sando, had gone to Paris, she wished to follow him. She left the estate to her husband in exchange for an annuity, on the condition that she would spend half a year in Paris, the other six months in Nohant, and maintain the appearance of a marriage.

Aurora arrived in Paris on January 4, 1831. A pension of three thousand francs was not enough to live on. Out of economy, she wore a men's suit, besides, he became a pass to the theater: the stalls were the only places that she and her friends could afford, ladies were not allowed.

At first, Aurora wrote with Sando: the novels The Commissioner (1830), Rose and Blanche (1831), which had great success with readers, came out with his signature, since Casimir Dudevant's stepmother did not want to see her name on the covers of books. In "Rose and Blanche" Aurora used her memories of the monastery, notes about a trip to the Pyrenees, the stories of her mother. Already on her own, Aurora began a new work, the novel "Indiana", the theme of which was the opposition of a woman looking for ideal love, a sensual and conceited man. Sando approved the novel, but refused to sign someone else's text. Aurora chose a male pseudonym: it became for her a symbol of deliverance from the slave position to which modern society doomed a woman. Keeping the surname Sand, she added the name Georges.

Latouche felt that in "Indiana" Aurora copied the style, however, after reading the novel more carefully, he changed his mind. The success of Indiana, lauded by Balzac and Gustave Planche, allowed her to sign a contract with the Revue de Deux Monde and gain financial independence.

By that time, the beginning of Sand's friendship with Marie Dorval, a famous actress of the romantic era, dates back.

Sand was credited with a love affair with Dorval, but these rumors are not confirmed by anything. In 1833, the novel Lelia was published, which caused a scandal. The main character (in many ways this is a self-portrait), in pursuit of happiness that gives other women, but not her, physical love, passes from lover to lover. Later, regretting that she had betrayed herself, George Sand corrected the novel, removing confessions of impotence and giving it a greater moral and social coloring. Jules Janin in the Journal de Debas called the book "disgusting", the journalist Capo de Feuyid "demanded a 'flaming coal' to cleanse his lips of these base and shameless thoughts..." Gustave Planche published a positive review in the Revue de Deux Monde and challenged Capo de Feuyid to a duel.

Sainte-Beuve, who admired Musset, wished to introduce the young poet Sand, but she refused, believing that she and Musset were too different people between which there can be no understanding. However, after meeting him by chance at a dinner hosted by the Revue de Deux Monde, she changed her mind.

Correspondence began between them, soon Musset moved to Sand's apartment on the Malaquay embankment. Sand was sure that now she would definitely be happy. The crisis came during their joint trip to Italy, when Musset's nervous and fickle nature made itself felt. Quarrels began, Musset reproached Sand for coldness: every day, in spite of everything, she spent eight hours literary work. In Venice, he announced to Sand that he was mistaken and did not love her. Sand becomes the mistress of Dr. Pagello, who treated the sick Musset.

In March 1834, Alfred de Musset left Venice, George Sand remained there for another five months, working on the novel Jacques. Both Sand and Musset regretted the breakup, and correspondence continued between them. Sand returned to Paris with Pagello, who wrote to his father: "I last stage my madness... Tomorrow I leave for Paris; there we will part with Sand ... ”At the very first meeting, Sand and Musset resumed relations. However, after a while, tired of scenes of jealousy, a series of breaks and reconciliations, Sand left Musset. Alfred de Musset carried the memory of this painful connection for both through his whole life. In his Confessions of a Son of the Century (1836), under the name of Brigitte Shpilman, he portrayed a former mistress, in the epilogue expressing the hope that someday they would forgive each other. After the death of Musset, Sand described their relationship in the novel She and He (1859), which provoked a negative reaction from Alfred's brother Paul, who answered her with the novel He and She.

In 1835, George Sand decided to get a divorce and turned to the well-known lawyer Louis Michel (1797-1853) for help. A Republican, a brilliant orator, the undisputed leader of all the liberals of the southern provinces, Michel played a decisive role in shaping political views Sand.

In April 1835, he spoke for the defense at the trial of the Lyons insurgents. Sand followed him to Paris to attend the hearings and take care of Michel, who "spoiled himself not in the defense of the April defendants."

In January 1836, Sand filed a complaint against her husband with the court of La Chatre. After hearing the witnesses, the court entrusted the upbringing of the children to Madame Dudevant. Casimir Dudevant, afraid of losing his rent, did not defend himself and agreed to a sentence in absentia. However, disagreements soon arose during the division of property between the former spouses. Dudevant appealed the court's decision and set out his claims to his wife in a special memorandum. Michel was the defender of Sand in the divorce proceedings resumed in May 1836. His eloquence impressed the judges, but their opinions were divided. But the next day, Casimir Dudevant went to the world: he had to raise his son and received the Narbonne Hotel in Paris for use. Madame Dudevant was entrusted with her daughter, and Nohant remained behind her.

Sand broke up with Michel Sand in 1837 - he was married and had no intention of leaving his family.

Prone, like George Sand, to mysticism, Franz Liszt introduced the writer to Lamennay. She immediately became an ardent supporter of his views and even went to some cooling of relations with Sainte-Beuve, who criticized the abbot for inconsistency. Sand offered to write for the Le Monde, a newspaper founded by Lamennay, free of charge, with the freedom to choose and cover topics for herself. "Letters to Marcy," a correspondence in the form of a novel, included actual messages from Sand to the poor dowry Eliza Tourangin. When in the "Sixth Letter" Sand touched on gender equality in love, Lamenne was shocked, and after learning that the next one would be devoted to "the role of passion in a woman's life", he stopped publishing.

However, the main reason for the break between Lamenne and Sand was that she was a faithful follower of the philosophy of Pierre Leroux. Most of Leroux's ideas were borrowed from Christianity, Leroux only did not allow the immortality of the individual. He also advocated equality of the sexes in love and the improvement of marriage as one of the conditions for the emancipation of women. According to Sand, Leroux, “the new Plato and Christ”, “saved” her, who found in his teaching “calmness, strength, faith, hope”.

For fifteen years, Sand supported Leroux, including financially. Under the influence of Leroux, Sand wrote the novels Spiridion (co-authored with Leroux) and The Seven Strings of the Lyre. In 1848, after leaving the conservative edition of the Revue des Deux Mondes, she founded, together with Louis Viardot and Leroux, the newspaper Revue Independente. Sand published her novels Horace, Consuelo and Countess Rudolstadt in it. She supported poets from the proletarian milieu - Savignen Lapointe, Charles Magu, Charles Ponsy and promoted their work ("Dialogues on the Poetry of the Proletarians", 1842). In her new novels (The Wandering Apprentice, The Miller from Anzhibo), the virtue of the proletarians was opposed to the "egoism of the noble rich."

At the end of 1838, Sand began a relationship with, by that time, who had parted with his bride Maria Vodzinskaya. Hoping that the climate of Mallorca will have a beneficial effect on Chopin's health, Sand decides to spend the winter there with him and the children. Her expectations were not justified: the rainy season began, Chopin had coughing fits. In February they returned to France. Sand recognizes himself as the head of the family. From now on, she tries to live only for children, Chopin and her work. To save winter they spent in Paris. The difference in characters, political preferences, jealousy for a long time could not prevent them from maintaining affection. Sand quickly realized that Chopin was dangerously ill and devotedly cared for his health. But no matter how his situation improved, Chopin's character and his illness did not allow him to be in a peaceful state for a long time.

Relations with Chopin are reflected in Sand's novel Lucrezia Floriani. Subsequently, she denied that she wrote off Lucrezia from herself, and Karol from Chopin. Chopin did not recognize or did not want to recognize himself in the image of a young man, a charming egoist, beloved by Lucrezia and who caused her premature death. In 1846, a conflict broke out between Chopin and Maurice, as a result of which the latter announced his desire to leave the house.

George Sand died from complications of intestinal obstruction on June 8, 1876 at her estate Nohant. Upon learning of her death, Hugo wrote: “I mourn the deceased, I salute the immortal!” She was buried at her estate in Nohant. Proposals were made to transfer her ashes to the Pantheon (Paris).

Works by George Sand:

Indiana (Indiana, 1832)
Valentine (Valentine, 1832)
Melchior (Melchior, 1832)
Lelia (Lélia, 1833)
Cora (Cora, 1833)
Jacques (Jacques, 1834)
Marquise (La Marquise, 1834)
Metella (Métella, 1834)
Leone Leoni (1835)
Moprá (Bernard Moprat, or The Reformed Savage) (Mauprat, 1837)
Mosaic Masters (Mosaists) (Les Maîtres mozaïstes, 1838)
Orco (L'Orco, 1838)
Uskok (L'Uscoque, 1838)
Spiridion (Spiridion, 1839)
Wandering Apprentice (Pierre Huguenin; Countryman Villepret (Fellow of Circular Tours in France); Villeprey Castle) (Le Compagnon du tour de France, 1841)
Winter in Mallorca (Un hiver à Majorque, 1842)
Horace (Horace, 1842)
Consuelo (Consuelo, 1843)
Countess Rudolstadt (La Comtesse de Rudolstadt, 1843)
Miller from Angibault (Le Meunier d'Angibault, 1845)
Devil's Swamp (Devil's Puddle; Cursed Swamp) (La Mare au diable, 1846)
Sin of Monsieur Antoine (Le Péché de M. Antoine, 1847)
Lucrezia Floriani (1847)
Piccinino (Le Piccinino, 1847)
François the Foundling (Foundling, or Hidden Love; Foster) (François le Champi, 1850)
Monsieur Rousset (excerpt from a novel) (Monsieur Rousset, 1851)
Mont Reveche (Mont Reveche Castle) (Mont Revèche, 1853)
Daniella (La Daniella, 1857)
The Fair Gentlemen of Bois-Doré (The Beauties of Bois-Doré) (Les beaux messieurs de Bois-Doré, 1858)
Green Ghosts (Les Dames vertes, 1859)
She and He (Elle et lui, 1859)
Snowman (L'Homme de neige, 1859)
Marquis de Villemer (1861)
Confession of a Young Girl (La Confession d'une jeune fille, 1865)
Last Love (Le Dernier Amour, 1867)
Pierre Tumbleweed. Handsome Laurence (Pierre qui roule. Le Beau Laurence, 1870)
Francia (Francia. Un bienfait n'est jamais perdu, 1872)
Nanon (1872)
Persmont Castle (La Tour de Percemont, 1876).

A rich baroness, born to keep centuries-old traditions, but despised the opinion of society and openly rebelled against its foundations all her life - that was Amandine Aurora Lucile Dupin, who firmly entered into world history under the humble pseudonym George Sand.

The preconditions for such life position developed long before the birth of Aurora and were aggravated by the events that occurred in her early childhood.

Noble ancestors

It so happened that manners XVIII centuries prescribed representatives of the nobility to enter into marriages exclusively with parties worthy in the eyes of the world, and then tie countless love affairs on the side. Subsequently, some of the illegitimate offspring were honored with legal recognition. On one of the branches of such an ambiguous family tree and a fresh shoot of the young Amandine Aurora blossomed - that was the real name George Sand, given to her at birth.

Among her great-grandfathers is the King of Poland, who broke up with his mistress Maria Aurora even before the birth of his son Moritz, but took an active part in his upbringing and contributed to his career. In turn, Moritz of Saxony had many mistresses, one of whom gave birth to Maria Aurora. However, he was in no hurry to call her his daughter. The girl obtained official recognition only after the death of her father. She married twice very successfully and soon became a widow with a son in her arms and an impressive fortune. It was this son who became the father of the future world-famous writer.

Parents

To the great displeasure of his mother, Maurice Dupin connected his life with a woman of bourgeois origin. Sophie-Victoria Delaborde used to be a dancer and had a bad reputation. For a long time Maria Aurora refused to recognize this marriage and did not even want to see her grandchildren. Sophie-Victoria bore Maurice two children - Aurora and Auguste. But the boy died of an illness in infancy.

The sudden death of Maurice due to an accident forced the adamant Marie-Aurora to reconsider her attitude towards her little granddaughter, so similar to her son. Madame Dupin decided to raise the girl as real lady and presented her daughter-in-law with an ultimatum - either she leaves the estate, leaving the guardianship of her mother-in-law, or Aurora is left without an inheritance.

Sophie-Victoria chose the first and went to Paris to arrange hers. This gap was a trauma for the little girl. She was only four years old when she lost her father, and now she was also separated from her mother, whom she loved dearly. And although they continued to see each other from time to time, Sophie Victoria did not become for her daughter either a friend, or a protector, or an adviser. So with young years Aurora had to learn to rely on herself and make her own decisions.

Youth

When the girl was 14 years old, her grandmother, as was customary then, sent her to a boarding house at the monastery for training. Here the impressionable Aurora was imbued with an interest in the unknown spiritual world. She had a tenacious mind, and she enthusiastically read the books available in the monastery.

Meanwhile, her grandmother had her first stroke. Fearing that in the event of her death, the young heiress would follow in her mother's footsteps, Maria Aurora decides to urgently marry her off and takes her away from the monastery.

However, no matter how young this child was, she strongly opposed marriage of convenience, and soon Maria Aurora abandoned her plans. Since then, the biography of George Sand has been written in the vastness of history in her own firm handwriting.

Thus, the sixteen-year-old rich heiress returned to her estate in Nohant, where she spent time reading the books of Chateaubriand, Pascal, Aristotle and other philosophers that were fashionable at that time.

Young Aurora was very fond of riding. She dressed in men's clothes and took long walks in the vicinity of Nohant. In those days, this was considered outrageous behavior, but the girl did not care about idle gossip.

Independent life

At the age of eighteen, after the death of her grandmother, Aurora married Casimir Dudevant. Build happy marriage she failed too different interests she was with her husband. She bore him a son, but after some time she began to take lovers.

In 1831, Aurora moved for another passion, Jules Sando, to Paris. It is he who will become responsible for her pseudonym - George Sand. To provide for herself in Paris, the lady decides to start a serious literary activity.

The first novels - "The Commissioner" and "Rose and Blanche" were written in collaboration with Jules Sando and signed with his name, as noble relatives did not want to see the name Dudevant on the cover of the book. The works were successful, and Aurora decided to try her hand at independent work. Thus, the novel "Indiana" was born.

Sando refused to accept undeserved laurels. And the publishers, on the contrary, insisted that the book should be sold only with the signature of the author loved by the public. And then Aurora decided to remove one letter from the surname and add male name. This is how the pseudonym of Aurora Dupin, George Sand, so recognizable today, appeared.

Extravagant habits

Having moved to Paris, the young writer was at first somewhat constrained in her means. Perhaps it was this that originally explained her manner of wearing a man's dress. It was warmer, more comfortable and suited to different occasions. However, later, already being famous and rich, Aurora did not refuse such outfits.

In addition, she soon began to give preference to the pseudonym Georges in personal conversations, instead of female name Aurora. This gave rise to a lot of gossip about her sexual orientation.

Literary recognition

From Indiana to the last line written, George Sand's novels have consistently garnered mixed reactions from readers. One thing can be said with certainty - they did not leave anyone indifferent. Many admired them, even more criticized them.

The writer raised burning topics on the pages of her books. She wrote about the oppression of women, shackled by outdated social norms. She called to fight and win, which could not fail to find a response in a society agitated by revolutionary ideas...

star romance

The popular writer had many lovers. However, the most famous was a young talented pianist. Frederic Chopin and George Sand lived together for more than nine years. However, this relationship can hardly be called happy. Constantly ill and immersed in his work, Frederick needed a nurse rather than a mistress. And soon Sand began to play for him the role of a caring mother, and not a life partner.

With this alignment, this relationship was doomed. However, according to critics, the best works both Chopin and Sand wrote during the period of their joint life.

literary heritage

The contribution of the hardworking writer to literature can hardly be overestimated. For several decades of its creative activity she wrote more than a hundred novels and short stories, great amount journalistic articles, compiled a multi-volume autobiography and composed 18 dramas. In addition, more than 18 thousand personal letters of George Sand have been preserved. Her books are still popular today.

However, it's not just about quantity. Early in her career, Sand independently developed an entirely new literary genre- romantic psychological novel. It is characterized by the fact that it minimizes the number of actors and events, but focuses on the experiences of the characters.

Vivid examples of this genre are Consuelo, Countess Rudolstadt, She and He.

epilogue of life

George Sand spent the last 25 years of her life on her estate in Nohant. She continues to write, but the novels that came out from under her pen during this period no longer shine with the fervor and desire for struggle that characterized the works of the 1830s. Age and isolation from secular life make themselves felt.

Now Sand writes more about charm rural life, about quiet pastoral love in the bosom of nature. She leaves aside the complex social problems she so loved so much and focuses on a small inner world their heroes.

George Sand died in 1876 at the age of 72. By this time, her literary fame had already been firmly established not only in France, but also far beyond its borders. Along with Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens, George Sand is called the greatest humanist of his era. And not without reason, because she was able to convey the ideas of mercy and compassion through all her works.