Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, a village in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He attended the University of Edinburgh, where he excelled in mathematics and invented the Carlyle circle. After finishing the arts course he prepared to become a minister in the Burgher Church while working as a schoolmaster. He quit these and several other endeavours before settling on literature, writing for the Edinburgh Encyclopædia and working as a translator. He initially gained prominence in English-language literary circles for his extensive writing on German Romantic literature and philosophy. These themes were explored in his first major work, a semi-autobiographical philosophical novel entitled Sartor Resartus (1833–34).
Vie et carrière
Carlyle eventually relocated to London, where he published The French Revolution: A History (1837). Its popular success made him a celebrity, prompting the collection and reissue of his earlier essays under the title of Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1838-39). His subsequent works were highly regarded throughout Europe and North America, including On Heroes (1841), Past and Present (1843), Cromwell's Letters (1845), Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850), and Frederick the Great (1858–65). He founded the London Library, helped to establish the National Portrait Galleries in London and in Edinburgh, became Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh in 1865 and received the Pour le Mérite in 1874, amongst other honours.
Carlyle occupied a central position in Victorian culture, being considered the "undoubted head of English letters" and a "secular prophet". Posthumously, a series of publications by his friend James Anthony Froude damaged Carlyle's reputation, provoking controversy about his personal life and his marriage to Jane Welsh Carlyle in particular. His reputation further declined in the aftermaths of the First World War and the Second World War, when his philosophy was seen as a precursor of both Prussianism and fascism. Growing scholarship in the field of Carlyle studies since the 1950s has improved his standing, and although little-read today, he is yet recognised as "one of the enduring monuments of [English] literature".
Faits clés
- Born: December 4, 1795 in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
- Décès : 1881
- Domaine : Mathematics
Héritage et influence
The influence of Thomas Carlyle extends far beyond his own lifetime. He fundamentally shaped the foundations of modern mathematics, and his theorems and mathematical frameworks remain foundational to this day.
Though he passed away in 1881, his ideas continue to be studied, debated, and built upon by scholars and practitioners worldwide.
Thomas Carlyle demeure l'un des esprits les plus célèbres issus de Scotland, témoignage du riche héritage intellectuel de la région.
Génies notables de Scotland
Scotland a donné naissance à de nombreux esprits remarquables. Aux côtés de Thomas Carlyle :
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