Frédéric Soulié, born in Foix in 1800, followed a father dismissed for Bonapartism and was himself expelled from law school for putting his name to liberal petitions: in that family, one paid for one's opinions from father to son. His Mémoires du diable made him one of the great figures of the popular novel, at a time when the genre sold newspapers by the hundreds of thousands. Two words alone name him here.
The story
An avenue of the cemetery bears the name of the novelist Frédéric Soulié, and it is the best landmark: the stone itself says only “FREDERIC SOULIE”, without dates or trade, beneath a bronze medallion signed Auguste Clésinger — the sculptor of Chopin's monument.
Born at Foix in December 1800, the son of François Melchior Soulié, a clerk in the tax office, he followed his father to Nantes in 1808 and then to Poitiers in 1815. That year the father, a supporter of Napoleon, was dismissed and settled in Paris; the son went with him and entered the law school — from which he was expelled for signing liberal petitions. In that family, opinions were paid for, from father to son.
His Mémoires du diable, serialised from 1837 to 1838, made him one of the major figures of the French popular novel, in a genre that then sold newspapers by the hundreds of thousands. He died at Bièvres on 23 September 1847, at forty-six.
At his funeral, on 27 September 1847, Victor Hugo delivered the address and Alexandre Dumas broke down in tears at the graveside. The stone carries two words.
The grave
A tomb whose best landmark is not the inscription but the address: the cemetery's avenue Frédéric-Soulié bears his name. The epitaph, for its part, runs to two words — “FREDERIC SOULIE” — with no dates or trade, beneath a bronze medallion signed Auguste Clésinger (1814-1883), the sculptor of Chopin's monument. Nothing of the Mémoires du diable that had made him famous.
On site, do not miss
A bronze medallion signed Auguste Clésinger, and a two-word epitaph: “FREDERIC SOULIE.” No dates, no trade. The path that runs along the tomb bears his name.
Visitors' questions
Where is Frédéric Soulié's grave?
In Division 48, on the avenue Frédéric-Soulié, first row: the cemetery path carries his name. It is the best landmark, the epitaph coming down to two carved words: “FREDERIC SOULIE”, with no dates.
Honoré de BalzacWhat is Les Mémoires du diable?
His hit serial novel — the devil's memoirs — the one that made him famous and set him among the major figures of French popular fiction, the genre that then sold newspapers by the hundred thousand.
Émile SouvestreWhy did he leave law school?
He was expelled for signing liberal petitions. His father, a tax official and a supporter of Napoleon, had himself been dismissed in 1815: the family paid for its politics, from father to son.
Pierre LachambeaudieWho sculpted his medallion?
Auguste Clésinger (1814-1883) — the sculptor of Chopin's monument, who is buried at Père-Lachaise himself. The bronze medallion is the sole ornament of a grave whose inscription runs to two words.
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