175 years since Guy de Maupassant: from poetry to the heights of French prose

August 5 marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), the author of 300 short stories, 6 novels, three travel diaries and... a collection of poems. One of the greatest short story and novelist writers in France, he began with poetry and saw his calling in poetry.

Guy de Maupassant's poetic mentor was the keeper of the city library, the poet Louis Bouyer (1821-1869), who brought the future writer to the house of his friend Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880). Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818-1883), who was friends with Flaubert, also became Maupassant's teacher.

Maupassant, a modest employee of the Naval Ministry, published his first works under pseudonyms. For the publication of the poem "On the Shore" (Au Bord de l'Eau, 1876), already under his own name, he was sued "for insulting morals and public morality".

A letter from G. Flaubert in defense of the poem became the preface to the first book of his student (1880), which he dedicated to the famous master
You will see a collection of poems (Des Vers, 1904) in the collection "Rare Book Museum" among other illustrated works of the Complete Works of Guy de Maupassant (Paris: Paul Ollendorff, 1901-1904).

At the same time as the poems, Maupassant's story "Boule de Suif" (1880) appeared in print, which became the best thing in the Collection of stories of young writers "Evenings in Medan" (1880), on the themes of the past Franco-Prussian War, which Maupassant was called up for in 1870
The scientific library collection contains a collection of stories about the Franco-Prussian War (Récits sur la Guerre Franco-Prussienne, 1943), which includes "Boule de Suif", which brought Guy de Maupassant his first literary success.

After the death of G. Flaubert, Maupassant continued to communicate with I.S. Turgenev. He dedicated a collection of stories, "Tellier's Establishment" (La Maison Tellier, 1881), to the Russian writer. Under the influence of Turgenev's "Mumu" he worked on "The Story of a Dog" (Histoire d'un chien, 1881) and "Mademoiselle Cocotte" (Mademoiselle Cocotte, 1883), which was included in the collection "Moonlight" (Clair de lune, 1884) Flaubert's refinement and Turgenev's lyricism came together in Maupassant's crowning works - "Life" (Une vie, 1883) and "Dear Friend" (Bel Ami, 1885).