The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Aimé-Martin, Louis

AIMÉ-MARTIN, Louis, a French author, born in Lyons in 1781, died in Paris, June 22, 1847. In 1815 he was appointed editing secretary of the chamber of deputies, and soon afterward professor of belles-lettres, moral philosophy, and history in the polytechnic school, of which office he was deprived in 1831. He then became keeper of the library of Ste. Geneviève. His first successful production was a semi-scientific book, called Lettres à Sophie sur la physique, la chimie et l'histoire naturelle (2 vols. 8vo, 1810), an agreeable mixture of prose and verse, suggested by the extraordinary success of the Lettres à Émilie sur la mythologie by Demoustier. He wrote a little later La vie de Bernardin de St. Pierre, in which the biographer happily imitated the style of his subject. His commentaries on Racine and Molière are especially interesting and tasteful. His most important work is a treatise entitled Éducation des mères de famille, in which he asserts that the best, or rather the only means of improving mankind, and reforming our present social organization, is to educate women in such a manner that they may be enabled to form men of character and virtue. The first part of the book is interesting, containing many practical suggestions, but the second part is much less valuable. A good translation of it has been published in the United States.—His wife, born about 1782, died in November, 1847, was a daughter of the marquis de Belleport. At the age of 18 she had married Bernardin de St. Pierre, then a widower in his 63d year. She was a favorite with many of her celebrated contemporaries, especially Lamartine, to whom she bequeathed her fortune.