Recollections of My Youth

Ernest Renan (1823-1892) was a French philosopher and writer, deeply attached to his native province of Brittany. He is best known for his influential historical works on early Christianity and his political theories. In 1840, Renan left St. Nicholas to study philosophy at the seminary of Issy-les-Moulineaux. Within his lifetime, Renan was best known as the author of the enormously popular Life of Jesus (Vie de Jesus). This book was first translated into English in 1863 by Charles E. Wilbour, and has remained in print for the past 145 years. In 1869, he presented himself as the candidate of the liberal opposition at the parliamentary election for Meaux. In La Reforme Intellectuelle et Morale (1871), Renan tried to safeguard France's future. Yet, he was still under the influence of Germany. The ideal and the discipline which he proposed to his defeated country were those of her conqueror-a feudal society, a monarchical government, an elite which the rest of the nation exists merely to support and nourish; an ideal of honour and duty imposed by a chosen few on the recalcitrant and subject multitude.