Paul-Louis Courier was born in Paris, but seems to have grown up largely in the country. His father, Jean-Paul Courier, worked at one time for the duc d’Olonne, with whom he quarreled so badly that the duke tried to have him murdered. Some suspect that Paul-Louis’s real mother was the duchesse d’Olonne. However, he himself seemed to accept readily that his mother was Louise-Elisabeth Laborde, whom Jean-Paul married five years after Paul-Louis’s birth. Since his father wished him to be an army officer, Courier studied mathematics, but his real enthusiasm was for Latin and Greek. He entered the artillery as a second lieutenant in June 1793. He served chiefly in Italy (1798-1809), where he devoted much time to academic libraries …
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Citation: Morrison, Ian. "Paul-Louis Courier". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 October 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12853, accessed 21 November 2024.]
