Alphonse Karr

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1808 - 1890) was a French critic, journalist and novelist.

Born in Paris on 24 November 1808, he was educated at the College Bourbon, and became a teacher there. Some of his novels, including his first, Sous les Tilleuls (1832), were autobiographical romances. Two, Feu Bressier (1848), and Fort en theme (1853) had some influence in stimulating educational reform in France.

In 1839 Alphonse Karr became editor of Le Figaro, to which he had been a constant contributor, and started a monthly journal, Les Guêpes, which had a strongly satirical tone. This brought him a reputation of a certain bitter wit, exemplified by his famous epigram, "plus ça change, plus c'est la méme chose" - "the more it changes, the more it's the same thing", usually translated "the more things change, the more they stay the same".

In 1848 he founded Le Journal. In 1855 he went to live at Nice, where he indulged his predilections for floriculture, and gave his name to more than one new variety. He was also devoted to fishing, and in Les Soirees de Sainte-Adresse (1853) and Au bord de la mer (1860) he made use of his experiences. His reminiscences, Livre de bord, were published in 1879-1880. He died at St Raphael (Var), on the sixth of September 1890.

Novels:

• Sous les Tilleuls (1832)
• Une heure trop tard (1833)
• Vendredi soir (1835)
• Le chemin le plus court (1836)
• Genevieve (1838)
• Voyage autour de mon jardin (1845)
• Feu Bressier (1848)
• Fort en theme (1853)
• Les Soirees de Sainte-Adresse (1853)
• Au bord de la mer (1860)
• Livre de bord (1979-80)