Nicolas Chauvin

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Nicolas Chauvin (possibly b. Rochefort, France, c. 1780) was a semi-mythical soldier and patriot who served in the First Army of the French Republic and subsequently in La Grande Armee of Napoleon Bonaparte. His name is the origin of the term chauvinism.

Chauvin enlisted at age 18, and served honorably and well. He is known to have been wounded 17 times in his nation's service, resulting in his severe disfigurement and maiming. For his loyalty and dedication, Napoleon himself presented the soldier with the Saber of Honor and a pension of 200 francs.

Chauvin's distinguished record of service and his love and devotion for Napoleon, which endured despite the price he willingly paid for them, earned him only ridicule and derision in post-Napoleonic France. The nation had lost its earlier idealism, and passionate nationalism was less in vogue. He was made a mockery of in several plays which were produced for the original Vaudeville, including La Cocarde Tricolore (1831).

Through the plays written closer to his time, in which Chauvin was made a character, the term "chauvinism" was coined as a term for excessive nationalistic fervor.

As the historical figure became a dramatic persona, and thus made more "mythical", he was attributed with acts and feats which may have been highly inaccurate, but permissible under the grant of poetic licence. One representation, a stage play and an opera libretto, for the purposes of the drama in which that date was set, said that he was born on July 4, 1776 (a patriotic date in the U.S. suitable for a super-patriotic figure) and entered the Revolutionary Army as a conscript during the Reign of Terror. His date of birth is unknown, so a fictionalized date was worked out as possibilities. Those fictional inventions were spread by some historians, who should have known better, given the rigors of historiographic methods. Authors of dramatic works often invent "facts" or use secondary historical sources for the purposes of their works. More critical modern historians--one master's thesis written in Germany--have "debunked" these myths, leaving us with a better picture of the man as a loyal follower of Napoleon. The play from which such fictional information was taken and used as historical fact did not represent Chauvin as anything other than a rabid follower of Napoleon.

[edit] Bibliography

Gérard de PUYMÈGE, Chauvin, le soldat-laboureur. Contribution à l'étude des nationalismes, Paris, Gallimard, 1993.