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{{Short description|French poet and critic (1812–1883)}}
[[Image:Victor de Laprade.jpg|thumb|Victor de Laprade]]
'''Pierre Martin Victor Richard de Laprade''' ({{IPA|fr|pjɛʁ maʁtɛ̃ viktɔʁ ʁiʃaʁ də lapʁad}}; 13 January 1812{{snd}}13 December 1883), known as '''Victor de Laprade''', was a French poet and critic.

==Biography==
He was born at [[Montbrison, Loire]], of a modest provincial family. After completing his studies at [[Lyon]], he produced, in 1839, a small volume of religious verse, ''Les Parfums de Madeleine''. This was followed in 1840 by ''La colère de Jesus'', in 1841 by the religious fantasy of ''Psyche'', and in 1844 by ''Odes et poèmes''. In 1845 Laprade visited Italy on a mission of literary research, and in 1847 he was appointed professor of [[French literature]] at Lyon. The [[Académie française]], by a single vote, preferred [[Émile Augier]] at the election in 1857, but in the following year Laprade was chosen to fill the place vacated by [[Alfred de Musset]].<ref name="eb1911">{{EB1911 |wstitle=Laprade, Pierre Martin Victor Richard de |volume=16 |page=207 |author=The Rt. Hon. the Earl of Crewe |authorlink=Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe}}</ref>

In 1861 Laprade was removed from his post at Lyon owing to the publication of a poem [[satire|satirising]] the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]] (''Les Musées d'Etat''),<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Victor de Laprade}}</ref> and in 1871 was elected to the [[National Assembly of France|National Assembly]] as a conservative. A statue was erected in his memory at Montbrison.<ref name="eb1911" />

Besides those named above, Laprade's poetic works include ''Poèmes évangéliques'' (1852), ''Idylles héroïques'' (1858), ''Les Voix du silence'' (1864), ''Pernette'' (1868), ''Poèmes civiles'' (1873), ''Le Livre d'un père'' (1877), ''Varia and Livre des adieux'' (1878–1879).<ref name="eb1911" />

His prose works include ''Des habitudes intellectuelles de l'avocat'' (1840), ''Questions d'art et de morale'' (1861),  ''Le Sentiment de la nature, avant le Christianisme'' in 1866, ''Chez les modernes'' in 1868, and ''Education libérale'' in 1873.  In some cases these works had been previously printed after delivery as a lecture.  He also contributed articles to the ''[[Revue des deux mondes]]'' and the ''Revue de Paris''.<ref name="eb1911" />

Laprade's subject was French provincial life, its culture, its piety, and its sober [[patriotism]].  His poetry belongs to the school of [[Chateaubriand]] and [[Alphonse de Lamartine]], imitating classical models, inspired by a sense of the ideal, and worshipping nature as revealing the divine.  However, he never attained a great level of popularity.  His work has much in common with the English [[Lake Poets|Lake School]].<ref name="eb1911" />

Laprade's prose criticisms consist of classical and [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] studies, as well as wide-ranging commentary on European literature.  He disliked [[irony]] and [[skepticism]], which probably lead him to underrate [[18th-century literature]].<ref name="eb1911" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Librivox author |id=12390}}

{{Académie française Seat 10}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1812 births]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Montbrison, Loire]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie Française]]
[[Category:French male poets]]
[[Category:19th-century French poets]]
[[Category:19th-century French male writers]]