1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Chênedollé, Charles Julien Lioult de

CHENÊDOLLÉ, CHARLES JULIEN LIOULT DE (1769–1833), French poet, was born at Vire (Calvados) on the 4th of November 1769. He early showed a vocation for poetry, but the outbreak of the Revolution temporarily diverted his energy. Emigrating in 1791, he fought two campaigns in the army of Conde, and eventually found his way to Hamburg, where he met Antoine de Rivarol, of whose brilliant conversation he has left an account. He also visited Mme de Staël in her retreat at Coppet. On his return to Paris in 1799 he met Chateaubriand and his sister Lucile (Mme de Caud), to whom he became deeply attached. After her death in 1804, Chênedollé returned to Normandy, where he married and became eventually inspector of the academy of Caen (1812–1832). With the exception of occasional visits to Paris, he spent the rest of his life in his native province. He died at the château de Coisel on the 2nd of December 1833. He published his Genie de l’Homme in 1807, and in 1820 his Études poétiques, which had the misfortune to appear shortly after the Méditations of Lamartine, so that the author did not receive the credit of their real originality. Chênedollé had many sympathies with the romanticists, and was a contributor to their organ, the Muse française. His other works include the Esprit de Rivarol (1808) in conjunction with F. J. M. Fayolle.

The works of Chênedollé were edited in 1864 by Sainte-Beuve, who drew portraits of him in his Chateaubriand et son groupe and in an article contributed to the Revue des deux mondes (June 1849). See also E. Helland, Étude biographique et littéraire sur Chênedollé (1857); Cazin, Notice sur Chênedollé (1869).