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46-475: Wishing to honour his deceased brother Jules (1830–1870), Goncourt bequeathed his estate to establish an organisation to promote literature in France . He named his friend, the writer Alphonse Daudet , along with Léon Hennique , to oversee and administer his estate. The society was to consist of ten members, of whom eight were nominated in the will. Each of the members was to receive an annuity of 6,000 francs , and

92-517: A Young Man , a lively memoir about his 20s spent in Paris and London among bohemian artists. It contains a substantial amount of literary criticism for which it has received a fair amount of praise, for instance The Modern Library chose it in 1917 to be included in the series as "one of the most significant documents of the passionate revolt of English literature against the Victorian tradition." During

138-560: A book recommended to Moore by W. K. Magee , a sub-librarian of the National Library of Ireland , who had earlier suggested that Moore "was best suited to become Ireland's Turgenev". The tales are recognised by some as representing the birth of the Irish short story as a literary genre. In 1903, following a disagreement with his brother Maurice over the religious upbringing of his nephews, Moore declared himself to be Protestant. His conversion

184-579: A century. The house was built by his paternal great-grandfather—also called George Moore—who had made his fortune as a wine merchant in Alicante . The novelist's grandfather—another George—was a friend of Maria Edgeworth , and author of An Historical Memoir of the French Revolution . His great-uncle, John Moore , was president of the Province of Connacht in the short-lived Irish Republic of 1798 during

230-573: A collection of short stories: Celibates (1895). In 1901, Moore returned to Dublin at the suggestion of his cousin and friend, Edward Martyn . Martyn had been involved in Ireland's cultural and dramatic movements for some years, and was working with Lady Gregory and William Butler Yeats to establish the Irish Literary Theatre . Moore soon became deeply involved in this project and in the broader Irish Literary Revival . He had already written

276-758: A deputy in the National Assembly of 1789. At the Lycée Condorcet , which he attended from 1842 to 1848, he was a strong student, obtaining two accessits in Greek and Latin in the Concours général . Both parents died while their sons were still young; after their mothers' death in 1848, Jules and Edmond inherited a legacy which gave them financial independence and allowed them to pursue their artistic interests. The two brothers initially focused on art history scholarship, publishing books on late 18th century history and

322-450: A failed artist, shows up in Moore's own characters. He met many of the key artists and writers of the time, including Pissarro , Degas , Renoir , Monet , Daudet , Mallarmé , Turgenev and, above all, Zola , who was to prove an influential figure in Moore's subsequent development as a writer. While still in Paris his first book, a collection of lyric poems called The Flowers of Passion ,

368-688: A further 40 ha in County Roscommon . Moore was born in Moore Hall in 1852. As a child, he enjoyed the novels of Walter Scott , which his father read to him. He spent a good deal of time outdoors with his brother, Maurice George Moore , and also became friendly with the young Willie and Oscar Wilde , who spent their summer holidays at nearby Moytura . Oscar was to later quip of Moore: "He conducts his education in public". His father had again turned his attention to horse breeding and in 1861 brought his champion horse, Croagh Patrick , to England for

414-400: A lung infection brought about by a breakdown in his health. His academic performance was poor while he was hungry and unhappy. In January 1865, he returned to St. Mary's College with his brother Maurice, where he refused to study as instructed and spent time reading novels and poems. That December the principal, Spencer Northcote, wrote a report that "he hardly knew what to say about George." By

460-610: A play, The Strike at Arlingford (1893), which was produced by the Independent Theatre . The play was the result of a challenge between Moore and George Robert Sims over Moore's criticism of all contemporary playwrights in Impressions and Opinions . Moore won the one hundred pound bet made by Sims for a stall to witness an "unconventional" play by Moore, though Moore insisted the word "unconventional" be excised. The Irish Literary Theatre staged his satirical comedy The Bending of

506-511: A reputation as a fair landlord, continuing the family tradition of not evicting tenants and refusing to carry firearms when travelling round the estate. While in Ireland, he decided to abandon art and move to London to become a professional writer. There he published his second poetry collection, Pagan Poems , in 1881. These early poems reflect his interest in French symbolism and are now almost entirely neglected. In 1886 Moore published Confessions of

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552-526: A satiric story of the marriage trade in Anglo-Irish society that hints at same-sex relationships among the unmarried daughters of the gentry, and Esther Waters (1894), the story of an unmarried housemaid who becomes pregnant and is abandoned by her footman lover. Both of these books have remained almost constantly in print since their first publication. His 1887 novel A Mere Accident is an attempt to merge his symbolist and realist influences. He also published

598-838: A secret life of orgies and sexual encounters. In 1862, Jules was imprisoned for several days in the Hôtel des Haricots for refusing to serve in the National Guard . In 1868, the brothers moved to the Villa Montmorency in the Parisian suburb of Auteuil . The house became something of a tourist attraction because of the brothers' collections, with newspapers publishing articles about it and strangers writing for permission to visit. After Jules's death in 1870, Edmond finished their uncompleted collaborations, including studies of three of Louis XV 's mistresses ( Madame de Pompadour , Madame du Barry , and

644-404: A successful racing season, together with his wife and nine-year-old son. For a while, George was left at Cliff's stables until his father decided to send him to his alma mater facilitated by his winnings. Moore's formal education started at St. Mary's College, Oscott , a Catholic boarding school near Birmingham , where he was the youngest of 150 boys. He spent all of 1864 at home, having contracted

690-579: A yearly prize of 5,000 francs was to be awarded to the author of some work of fiction. After some litigation, the academy was constituted in 1903. Since then, each December, a ten-member board of the Académie has awarded the Prix Goncourt for the best work of fiction of the year. Membership is reserved to writers who have produced works in the French language, but it is not limited to citizens of France. In 1996,

736-697: The Duchess of Châteauroux ) and a monograph on the artist Paul Gavarni . In 1885 Edmond published a selection of Jules's letters. He also continued the Journal , which the two brothers had begun in 1851, continuing it until his own death in 1896. From 1887 to 1896, Edmond published nine volumes of the journal. Jules de Goncourt is buried with his brother Edmond in the Cimetière de Montmartre . With Edmond de Goncourt : George Moore (novelist) George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933)

782-766: The Irish Rebellion of 1798 . George Moore's father, George Henry Moore , sold his stable and hunting interests during the Great Irish Famine , and from 1847 to 1857 served as an Independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Mayo in the British House of Commons . George Henry was renowned as a fair landlord, fought to uphold the rights of tenants, and was a founder of the Catholic Defence Association . His estate consisted of 5000 ha (50 km ) in Mayo, with

828-619: The Spanish novelist and scriptwriter Jorge Semprún was elected as the first foreigner to become a member of the academy. In addition to the Prix Goncourt, which comes with a symbolic cheque of 10 euros, the Académie Goncourt awards honours for first novel and achievements in short story, poetry and biography genres. The ten members of the academy are usually called les Dix (the Ten). They meet

874-659: The avant garde publisher, and on 22 September 1888, about a month before the trial, wrote a letter that appeared in the St. James Gazette . In it Moore suggested that, rather than a jury of twelve tradesmen , Vizatelly should be judged by three novelists. Moore pointed out that such celebrated books as Madame Bovary and Gautier's Mademoiselle de Maupin had morals equivalent to Zola's, though their literary merits might differ. Because of his willingness to tackle such issues as prostitution, extramarital sex, and lesbianism, Moore's novels were initially met with scandal, but this subsided as

920-519: The publicity stirred up by its opponents . The French newspaper Le Voltaire published it in serial form as La Femme du cabotin in July–October 1886. His next novel, A Drama in Muslin was again banned by Mudie's and Smith's. In response Moore declared war on the circulating libraries by publishing two provocative pamphlets ; Literature at Nurse and Circulating Morals . In these, he complained that

966-443: The "evolution of an age from the objects and articles of its social existence". The two brothers shared a love for 18th century art, assembling a large and esteemed collection of fine and decorative art from the period, as well as ephemera like letters, drawings, and prints. From 1856, Jules and Edmond published a series of essays called "L'Art du XVIIIe Siècle" (The Art of the 18th Century), which came to encompass 12 fascicles and

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1012-470: The 1880s, Moore began work on a series of novels in a realist style. His first novel, A Modern Lover (1883) was a three-volume work, as preferred by the circulating libraries , and deals with the art scene of the 1870s and 1880s in which many characters are identifiably real. The circulating libraries in England banned the book because of its explicit portrayal of the amorous pursuits of its hero. At this time

1058-510: The Bough (1900), adapted from Martyn's The Tale of a Town , originally rejected by the theatre but unselfishly given to Moore for revision, and Martyn's Maeve . Staged by the company which would later become the Abbey Theatre , The Bending of the Bough was a historically important play and introduced realism into Irish literature. Lady Gregory wrote that it: "hits impartially all round". The play

1104-504: The British circulating libraries, such as Mudie's Select Library , controlled the market for fiction, and the fee-paying public expected them to guarantee the morality of the novels provided. His next realist novel, A Mummers Wife (1885) was also regarded as unsuitable by Mudie's, and W H Smith refused to stock it on their news-stalls. Despite this, during its first year of publication the book went through fourteen editions, mainly because of

1150-678: The Roman Catholic Church from estate funds. George later sold a large part of the estate to the Irish Land Commission for £25,000. Moore was friendly with many members of the expatriate artistic communities in London and Paris, and had a long-lasting relationship with Maud, Lady Cunard . Moore took a special interest in the education of Maud's daughter, the well-known publisher and art patron, Nancy Cunard . It has been suggested that Moore, rather than Maud's husband, Sir Bache Cunard ,

1196-434: The dramatic movement. Moore published two books of prose fiction set in Ireland around this time; a second book of short stories, The Untilled Field (1903) and a novel, The Lake (1905). The Untilled Field deals with clerical interference in the daily lives of the Irish peasantry, and of the issue of emigration. The stories were originally written for translation into Irish, to serve as models for other writers working in

1242-409: The estate over to his brother Maurice to manage and in 1873, on attaining his majority, moved to Paris to study art. It took him several attempts to find an artist who would accept him as a pupil. Rodolphe Julian , who had previously been a shepherd and circus masked man, took him on for 40 francs a month. At Académie Julian he met Louis Welden Hawkins who became Moore's flatmate and whose trait, as

1288-410: The first Tuesday of each month, except in summer. Since 1914, they have convened in an oval room, the salon Goncourt , on the second floor of the restaurant Drouant , place Gaillon, in the heart of Paris . The cutlery which they use while dining there constitutes the main physical continuity of the academy. Each new member receives the fork and knife of the member whom he (or she) is replacing, and

1334-531: The following year. Here, Moore senior tried, unsuccessfully, to have his son follow a career in the military though, prior to this, he attended the School of Art in the South Kensington Museum where his achievements were no better. He was freed from any burden of education when his father died in 1870. Moore, though still a minor, inherited the family estate that generated a yearly income of £3,596. He handed

1380-643: The language. Three of the translations were published in the New Ireland Review , but publication was then paused because of their perceived anti-clerical sentiment. In 1902 the entire collection was translated by Tadhg Ó Donnchadha and Pádraig Ó Súilleabháin , and published in a parallel-text edition by the Gaelic League as An-tÚr-Ghort . Moore later revised the texts for the English edition. These stories were influenced by Turgenev 's A Sportsman's Sketches ,

1426-477: The lessons of the French realists , and was particularly influenced by the works of Émile Zola . His writings influenced James Joyce , according to the literary critic and biographer Richard Ellmann , and, although Moore's work is sometimes seen as outside the mainstream of both Irish and British literature, he is as often regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist. George Moore's family had lived in Moore Hall, near Lough Carra , County Mayo , for almost

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1472-545: The libraries profit from salacious popular fiction while refusing to stock serious literary fiction. Moore's publisher Henry Vizetelly began to issue unabridged mass-market translations of French realist novels that endangered the moral and commercial influence of the circulating libraries around this time. In 1888, the circulating libraries fought back by encouraging the House of Commons to implement laws to stop "the rapid spread of demoralising literature in this country". Vizetelly

1518-407: The member's name is engraved on the knife and the fork. As of 2020, the members of the Académie Goncourt are: Jules de Goncourt Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt ( pronounced [ʒyl də ɡɔ̃kuʁ] ; 17 December 1830 – 20 June 1870) was a French writer, who published books together with his brother Edmond . Jules was born and died in Paris. His death at the age of 39

1564-502: The public's taste for realist fiction grew. Moore began to find success as an art critic with the publication of books such as Impressions and Opinions (1891) and Modern Painting (1893), the first significant attempt to introduce the Impressionists to an English audience. By this time Moore was first able to live from the proceeds of his literary work. Other realist novels by Moore from this period include A Drama in Muslin (1886),

1610-650: The story was based on the supposition that a non-divine Christ did not die on the cross but instead was nursed back to health and repented of his pride in declaring himself Son of God. Other books from this period include a further collection of short-stories called A Storyteller's Holiday (1918), a collection of essays called Conversations in Ebury Street (1924) and a play, The Making of an Immortal (1927). Moore also spent considerable time revising and preparing his earlier writings for new editions. Partly because of his brother Maurice's pro- treaty activity, Moore Hall

1656-401: The summer of 1867, he was expelled for, as he wrote in 1903's The Untilled Field , "idleness and general worthlessness", and returned to Mayo. His father said that he feared about George and his brother Maurice, "[that] those two redheaded boys are stupid", an observation which proved untrue for all four sons. In 1868, Moore's father was again elected MP for Mayo and the family moved to London

1702-524: Was Nancy's father, but this is not generally credited by historians, and it is not certain that Moore's relationship with Nancy's mother was ever more than platonic. Moore's last novel, Aphrodite in Aulis , was published in 1930. He died at his address of 121 Ebury Street in the London district of Belgravia in early 1933, leaving a fortune of £70,000. He was cremated in London at a service attended by Ramsay MacDonald among others. An urn containing his ashes

1748-462: Was a satire on Irish political life, and as it was unexpectedly nationalist, was considered the first to deal with a vital question that had appeared in Irish life. Diarmuid and Grania , a poetic play in prose co-written with Yeats in 1901, was also staged by the theatre, with incidental music by Elgar . After this production Moore took up pamphleteering on behalf of the Abbey, and parted company with

1794-489: Was an Irish novelist, short-story writer , poet, art critic , memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo . He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s. There, he befriended many of the leading French artists and writers of the day. As a naturalistic writer, he was amongst the first English-language authors to absorb

1840-508: Was announced in a letter to the Irish Times newspaper. Moore remained in Dublin until 1911. In 1914, he published Hail and Farewell , a gossipy three-volume memoir of his time there, which entertained readers but infuriated former friends. Moore quipped, "Dublin is now divided into two sets; one half is afraid it will be in the book, and the other is afraid that it won't". In his later years he

1886-583: Was at Auteuil of a stroke brought on by syphilis . The Prix Goncourt is awarded annually in his honor. Jules de Goncourt was born in Paris, the fourth child of a former cavalry officer and squadron leader in the Grande Armée of Napoléon I , Marc-Pierre Huot de Goncourt, and his wife Annette-Cécile de Goncourt (née Guérin). Between Jules and his older brother Edmond were born two sisters who died at young ages, Nephtalie (1824–1825) and Émilie (1829–1832). Jules' paternal grandfather, Huot de Goncourt, sat as

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1932-485: Was brought to court by the National Vigilance Association (NVA) for "obscene libel". The charge arose from the publication of the English translation of Zola's La Terre . A second case was brought the following year to force implementation of the original judgement and to remove all of Zola's works. This led to the 70-year-old publisher becoming involved in the literary cause. Throughout Moore supported

1978-573: Was burnt by anti-treaty partisans in 1923, during the final months of the Irish Civil War . Moore eventually received compensation of £7,000 from the government of the Irish Free State . By this time the brothers had become estranged, mainly because of George's unflattering portrait of Maurice in Hail and Farewell . Tension also arose from their religious differences: Maurice frequently made donations to

2024-486: Was increasingly friendless, having quarrelled bitterly with Yeats and Osborn Bergin , among others: Oliver St. John Gogarty said: "It was impossible to be a friend of his, because he was incapable of gratitude". Moore returned to London in 1911, where, with the exception of frequent trips to France, he was to spend much of the rest of his life. In 1913, he travelled to Jerusalem to research his next novel, The Brook Kerith (1916). Moore once again courted controversy, as

2070-424: Was not finished until 1875. In the 1860s the brothers published novels characterized by Naturalism and an examination of the different social classes, which anticipates the work of later authors like Émile Zola and George Moore . Germinie Lacerteux (1864) is "one of the first realistic French novels of working class life" and was based on the life of the brother's housekeeper Rose, who stole from them to fund

2116-441: Was self-published in 1877. The poems were derivative, and were maliciously reviewed by the critics who were offended by some of the depravities in store for moralistic readers. The book was withdrawn by Moore. He was forced to return to Ireland in 1880 to raise £3,000 to pay debts incurred on the family estate, owing to his tenants refusing to pay their rent and the drop in agricultural prices. During his time back in Mayo, he gained

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