José-Maria de Heredia

Educated in Paris and at the École des Chartes as an archivist-paleographer, Heredia devoted thirty years to polishing a single volume of 118 sonnets. Gathering young poets at his salon, he taught the uncompromising discipline of sculptural verse.

Published in 1893, Les Trophées took Paris by storm with its dazzling historical panoramas, spanning ancient Greece, Rome, the Renaissance, and Spanish Conquistadors ('Comme un vol de gerfauts hors du charnier natal...'). Elected to the Académie Française in 1894, he directed the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal.