Claude Victor André Marcel

Claude Victor André Marcel Knight, Leg Hon (31 August 1793 - 17 January 1876) was a French diplomat and language teacher who served in Cork as an official representative of the French government between 1816 and April 1863 and was additionally a teacher of French and the author of a two-volume study of language education published in London in 1853 under the title Language as a Means of Mental Culture and International Communication; or, Manual of the Teacher and the Learner of Languages. He has been seen as pioneer of applied linguistics.

Biography

Early life and family Claude Victor André Marcel was born on 31 August 1793 at rue Bertin Poirée 25, Section du Museum, Paris, to Claude Marcel (8 July 1767 - 13 November 1842) and Marie Catherine Geneviève Aubry (7 September 1764 - 10 April 1834). His father was an épicier and later an Hotelier. He was baptised in November 1793 at St. Germain-L'Auxerrois, Paris.

Claude was the second of 8 children, his siblings were:

Marie Charlotte Marcel (17 August 1792 - 2 December 1872) Annibal Simon Marcel (23 November 1794 - 30 January 1875) Catherine Thaïse Marcel (24 July 1797 - 21 December 1878) Justine Louise Marcel (13 November 1798 - 28 January 1876) Virginie Julienne Marcel (16 May 1802 - 2 July 1879) Anne Marcel (1803 - 6 January 1866) Henriette Eloyse Marcel (b. 31 October 1807)

Being born and living in Paris at the height of the French Revolution would have been a frightening experience. The Marcel family lived in the near vicinity of Palais des Tuilieries and Claude's parents would likely have been witness to the executions of notable figures.

His sister Catherine was the grandmother of Camille Léonie Doncieux, the first wife of Claude Monet.

13 years into his life in Cork, Claude married Anne Murray on 9 June 1829 at Ss. Peter and Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Cork. They lived at 48 Grande Parade, Cork, and had 9 children:

Claude Joseph Marcel (1831 - After 1861) Justin James Marcel (29 December 1832 - 11 December 1920) Marie Henriette Marcel (May 1834 - 17 December 1923) Victor Joseph Marcel (26 August 1836 - 13 April 1885) Annie Josephine Marcel (August 1838 - 22 November 1902) Héloïse Virginie Marcel (4 March 1840 - 14 February 1908) James Augustin Marcel (29 August 1844 - 20 March 1888) Alfred Henri Marcel (May 1849 - 9 October 1883) Frédéric Charles Marcel (August 1852 - 19 April 1910)

Education and military career Claude was educated at Lycée Napoléon, Paris, France, and later prepared l’École Polytechnique, a military college then located in Montagne Sainte Genevieve in the Quartier Latin in central Paris, but he never attended. In 1813 he enlisted in the Garde Impériale in the 13th Regiment of the Young Guard. He served in the Napoleonic Wars and received a shoulder injury at the Siege of Antwerp in January 1814.

Diplomatic career In 1816, soon after the end of the war he took up an honorary post as Chancellor in the French Consulate in Cork, Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom. He was to remain there until he retired to Paris in April 1863, except for a short interruption caused by the French Revolution of 1830. Aside from his diplomatic duties he became a successful teacher of French, attracting local dignitaries including two bishops to his lessons. and Le Corsaire (21 October 1827) reaffirms this.

After his retirement in the late 1850s Marcel issued a number of publications, often re-presenting the ideas of Language as a Means of Mental Culture and International Communication. In the 1870s he published learning materials including English grammar tables and various readers. At the time of his death he appears to have been working on a comparative grammar of French and English.

Death Claude Marcel died on 17 January 1876 at rue Notre-Dame de Lorette 52, Paris and was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery on 20 January in section D92 grave no. 240cc. His wife, Anne, died 27 July 1890 and was interred with Claude. Their sons Alfred and Frédéric were also interred in the same grave. Their remains have since been exhumed and placed in the Ossuary within the cemetery.