Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine (1790-1869) was one of the first French romantic poets. A diplomat as well, he led the provisional government of the Second Republic in 1848.

Alphonse de Lamartine was born on Oct. 21, 1790, in Mâcon. His family was of the landed, pious, provincial aristocracy, who remained loyal to the monarchy during the Revolution. He had five younger sisters who later married but became dependent on his support. He spent his childhood in the country at Milly, where the Abbé Dumont was his tutor. Both Milly and the abbé would be idealized in his poetry. Eventually he was sent to Lyons to study, but he rebelled, and escaped at the age of 11. He was then sent to a Jesuit school for a traditional, pious education, which he completed in 1808. He was a good student, described as a tall young man with an intense...