Edmond de Goncourt

From Wikinfo

Edmond de Goncourt (May 26, 1822 - July 16, 1896), writer, critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt.

He was born Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt in Nancy, France.

Edmond de Goncourt bequeathed his entire estate for the foundation and maintenance of the Académie Goncourt. In honor of his brother and collaborator, Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, (December 17, 1830 - June 20, 1870), each December since 1903, the Acad�mie awards the Prix Goncourt. It is the most prestigious prize in French language literature, given to "the best imaginary prose work of the year".

A few of the authors who have won the 100 year-old-prize are: Marcel Proust, Jean Fayard, Simone de Beauvoir, Georges Duhamel, Alphonse De Chateaubriant, Antonine Maillet and the only person to win it twice, Romain Gary.

Edmond de Goncourt died in Champrosay, France and was interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris, France.

Quotes

• "A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world."
• "If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion."

External links

• Works by & about Edmond de Goncourt at Internet Archive (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
• Works by Edmond de Goncourt at Project Gutenberg (plain text and HTML)
• Blog dedicated to Edmond and Jules de Goncourt

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Edmond_de_Goncourt" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_de_Goncourt, used under the GNU Free Documentation License