Léon Dierx

Who is Léon Dierx?

Léon Dierx was a French Parnassian poet born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, on 31 March 1838, into a family whose villa on the island (later known as the Villa Déramond-Barre) had been purchased by his grandfather. He lived in Réunion until 1860, when he left for mainland France to study at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris, later taking up a position in the postal administration to support himself while he wrote. Deeply influenced by fellow Réunion-born poet Leconte de Lisle, whose disciple he became, Dierx emerged as one of the leading voices of the Parnassian school, which favored precise, sculptural verse over Romantic sentimentality. His published collections include Aspirations (1858), Poèmes et poésies (1864), Lèvres closes (1867), Paroles d'un vaincu (1871), and Les Amants (1879); his Poésies complètes of 1872 was honored by the Académie française. Following the death of Stéphane Mallarmé in 1898, Dierx was elected "Prince des poètes" by his peers in the French literary world, a symbolic title recognizing him as the era's foremost living poet. He was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1901 and died in Paris in 1912.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Léon Dierx" · Unjourunpoeme.fr, "Léon Dierx : poèmes, biographie, oeuvres et recueils" · devoir-de-philosophie.com, "Dierx Léon, 1838-1912, né à Saint-Denis (la Réunion)"