The famous French writer Stendhal, who worked mainly in the early 19th century, was a very original person. Hiding under a pseudonym, he published books and articles whose authorship was determined only after his death. And the life of Stendhal was very interesting – he was a welcome guest at social events and literary parties, and he achieved such an attitude towards himself solely through his personal qualities.
The real name of the writer is Marie-Henri Beil. He had a great many pseudonyms, but he published his most famous works under the pseudonym Stendal. Under this name, he eventually went down in history. Since he carefully concealed his identity, during his lifetime he was known not as a prose writer, but as the author of books on Italian sights. Throughout his life, he could not stand the priests and avoided them in every way. This hostility originated in childhood, when he was forced to read the Bible. In 1800, Stendal participated in the first campaign of the Emperor Napoleon. He also took part in the war of 1812, but as an quartermaster – he did not participate in the battle. Stendal was present at the Battle of Borodino and saw the flames left by Kutuzov burning in Moscow.
After the war, he became a writer, and wrote many articles, essays and travel guides. The reason was simple – so he earned his living. Due to the progressing syphilis, which Stendal fell ill in his youth, his health gradually deteriorated throughout his life. When he was too sick to write, he dictated the texts. The idol of Stendhal was the famous French writer Moliere. Part of his manuscripts written by him during the war of 1812, died during the crossing of one of the Russian rivers. After the final defeat of Napoleon, Stendal moved to Milan, where he lived for seven years. Contemporaries described the writer as an extremely witty and cheerful person. However, in difficult years, when he was interrupted by odd jobs, he was constantly depressed, wrote and rewrote testaments, and in the fields of manuscripts he drew pistols.
Stendhal’s most famous work, Red and Black, was written by him on the basis of a note in the criminal news section of a local newspaper. Nowadays, it is he who is considered the founder of the “psychological novel” genre. The word “tourist” we owe to Stendhal and his work “Notes of a Tourist.” From that moment on, this word went to the masses. Seeing exciting works of art, the writer fell into a stupor, ceasing to notice the environment. Now this psychosomatic disorder is called Stendhal syndrome. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin spoke highly about the novel “Red and Black”. In 1842, Stendhal fainted right on the street, fell and died suddenly, most likely from a stroke. During his lifetime, he published many articles in English magazines. Only in the 20th century, a hundred years later, was it possible to establish who was their author.
