Chénier, << `shay` NYAY, >> André (1762-1794), ranks among the greatest French poets of the 1700’s. Much of Chénier’s finest poetry was written during the last months of his life. At that time, he was imprisoned as a journalist for criticizing the revolutionaries who controlled the government since the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. Chénier’s late poetry passionately defends the ideals of justice and liberty. These poems were smuggled out of his prison cell in a laundry basket. Chénier was executed on July 25, 1794, after spending four months in prison.
Few of Chénier’s poems were published during his lifetime. The first collected edition of Chénier’s poetry appeared in 1819 and won him immediate international recognition. His best known poems include Le Jeu de Paume (1790), Ode to Marie-Anne-Charlotte Corday (1793), La Jeune Captive (1794), and a collection called Iambes, written while he was in prison.
André Marie de Chénier was born in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 30, 1762. His father was French and his mother was Greek. Chénier’s early collection of poetry called Les Bucoliques reflects the knowledge and admiration of ancient Greek culture he received from his mother. Chénier attended school in France from 1773 to 1784. Her worked as a secretary in the French embassy in London from 1787 to 1790, when he settled in Paris and became a political journalist.
