Author talk:P. Granal

P. Granal

Though he is credited as "M. P. Granal" in The Strand (and an 1840 translation of the same story in Chambers' Edinburgh Journal), the French text of another of his works, "Mélik" in Babel (1840) shows that he signed his name "P. Granal" and the "M." in the contents list is just an abbreviation of Monsieur. This is supported by the BNF Catalogue, which lists him as "P. Granal".

The 1840 Chambers translation says this story was "contributed to a recent French periodical by M. P. Granal, a writer who has personally visited the East, and who, by other compositions, has proved himself to be thoroughly conversant with its fictions and customs. He describes himself as having heard the story from the lips of his temporary attendant in Egypt, a professed narrator of such matters." And the original can be found as "L’Ane et le Trésor: Conte Arabe" in Le Temps (31 December 1837) as part of a series of articles, all signed as P. Granal. Not certain whether the Strand version is a new translation from the French, or just a reworded version of the Chambers translation.

It is possible that it was republished as his contribution to volume 2 of Une arabesque (1841). --Yodin^T 19:24, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

Partial identification

P. Granal was one of the Saint-Simonians who travelled to Constantinople and then Egypt in the 1830s, but despite quite a lot having been written about this expedition, I haven't been able to find any definite record of his full first name, date of birth, etc.

• The Bibliothèque saint-simonienne has brief articles on P. Granal, as well as his younger brother "Granal jeune". It describes P. Granal as probably a lawyer, a French teacher at the Abu Zaabal school, who took over from Ismael Urbain as author of the serial story of their expedition in Le Temps in 1837, and died in France in 1856 [n.b. I have not been able to confirm this].
• Michel Levallois' Ismaÿl Urbain (1812–1884): une autre conquête de l'Algérie (2001) describes him as: "GRANAL, P., avocat (?–1856) était parti pour l'Égypte avec Urbain et les compagnons de la Femme. Il s'était retrouvé avec Urbain chez Lady Stanhope en juillet 1833. Il avait aussi enseigné le français, à l'école vétérinaire d'Abouzabel."
• Anwar Lūqā's L'autre Egypte: de Bonaparte à Taha Hussein (2006) describes him as: "la veille de sa rentrée en France, un saint-simonien obscur, P. Granal, ex-avocat, professeur de français à l'École vétérinaire d'Abu Za'bal, déclarer spontanément son intention d'être « en Occident, un signe vivant de la force et de la fécondité que met l'Orient au cœur de ceux qui l'aiment »."
• A school is also mentioned here: "Urbain et Granal enseignaient à l'école de Kanka" (perhaps Khanka?); the same book later mentions a letter from Granal to his father dated 4 May 1835 found in the "Archives saint-sim." (this could show their names, but I haven't been able to find what/where the "Archives saint-sim." are); it also describes P. Granal as "homme de lettres, rentré en France". For "Granal jeune" it only says that Urbain attests that he was there during the expedition, and that he returned to France with Félicien David.
  • This 1863 article supports this, saying "Renonçant, avec de grands regrets, au projet d'une excursion dans la Haute-Égypte, il s'entendit avec M. Granal, le frère de son premier compagnon de voyage, et tous deux quittèrent le Caire le 18 février 1835."
  • Several books cite Saint-Simonian letters held by the "ARSMS", which this dissertation explains is the "Association Abbaye Royale Saint-Médard de Soissons". Their website is here. This may well be the "Archives saint-sim." mentioned above.
• "Granal jeune"'s name seems to have been Henri Granal, as David dedicated a piece of music "A Henri Granal".
• According to this magazine (p. 75): "Le pays est dans une grande agitation, écrivait le saint-simonien Granal, de Béziers, le 24 juin 1846, pour savoir si le tracé du chemin de fer de Bordeaux à Cette passera par Agde, ou par Pézenas. Ce ne sont plus de questions de principles, qui émeuvent les populations, mais leurs propres intérêts." which could be either of the brothers.
• All copies of Le Temps from the time have been digitized, including all of P. Granal's articles, which can be found by searching at RetroNews.
• An 1833 article shows that one Monsieur Granal was born in Béziers, and wrote to Octavien Vidal, the mayor of the city in 1833, asking for his support in getting a passport. Vidal wrote in support of Granal, saying "M. Granal, qui nous est particulièrement connu, est né à Béziers, il est de bonne vie et mœrs, et n'a jamais fait qu'une seule sottise, c'est de verser sa fortune dans le fonds commun de la société ci-devant Saint-Simonienne." A list of contributions to the Saint-Simonians shows the largest amount—2,000 francs—donated by "Granal aîné". As a result, it seems more likely that P. Granal wrote to Vidal, rather than Henri.
• Thomas Cooper's dissertation French Empire and Musical Exoticism to the end of the Nineteenth Century (1997) gives his name as "Paul Granal", but only in a footnote that references Peter Gradenwitz' article "Félicien David (1810–1876) and French Romantic Orientalism" in Musical Quarterly (1976), which in turn only refers to him as "Granal". Cooper does seem to have found Granal's articles in Le Temps, as he gives dates ("September and October 1837") that aren't included in Gradenwitz' article, so may also have found some evidence that Paul was his first name, but if so he doesn't provide any sources for this, and may well have guessed the name from the initial (though there are other obvious possibilities, such as Pierre and Philippe).

--Yodin^T 16:08, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

Jean-Pierre-Hyacinthe Granal

One possibility is that this is Jean-Pierre-Hyacinthe Granal, son of Jean-Pierre Granal, and Marie-Henriette Eustache, brother of Henri Granal, and presumably a relative of Etienne Granal, a goldsmith, and Marie-Henriette-Elisabeth Lamothe née Granal. In 1830, they were living in Béziers; Marie-Henriette was a widow, Jean-Pierre-Hyacinthe was a law student and emancipated minor, Henri was a minor, with Me. Chavardés, a lawyer, as the legal guardian of them both. He appears to have been living in Paris in 1838, listed as a landowner, when he jointly patented a method for processing tobacco. Censuses in 1841 (with Henri) and 1846 (age 35) seem to show him living in Béziers, unmarried, with his mother, and using the name Pierre. Another record of him says he was 34 years old on 1 June 1845 while living in Béziers. He died on 16 December 1854 in Paris, described as a "homme de lettres, né a Béziers", age 45 (about right; no date of birth given), unmarried.

This would have made J-P-H around 22 in 1833 when the Granal brothers set off to join the St. Simonians, while Henri's age would explain the epithet "Granal jeune". J-P-H Granal would have recently come into their father's inheritance, and their youthful enthusiasm could explain the Granal brothers' motivation for joining the expedition, and how and why P. Granal gave a large amount to the cause. The Bibliothèque saint-simonienne's article on P. Granal saying it seems he was a lawyer, tallies with J-P-H being a law student. French names often included several given names, of which one (not always the first) would be used in everyday life, so the P. of P. Granal could well be Pierre.

Jean-Pierre-Hyacinthe Granal was a member of the Société des gens de lettres, but left on 19 August 1844, and records show that he was still alive when he chose to leave. I am not aware of any other Granal as a published author at the time, so this could well be P. Granal. The Society has many historical records, which might have more details about J-P-H Granal, hopefully including which publications Granal was admitted on the basis of, which could confirm whether or not he was P. Granal. One book calls P. Granal "homme de lettres", but I haven't found any record of the others it calls "homme de lettres" being members of the SGDLF, so it's probably using the term informally.

The letter "Granal au Père, 4 mai 1835. Archives saint-sim." is a potential stumbling block for this theory. As mentioned above, I don't know what/where the "Archives saint-sim." are, but reading the letter should confirm whether or not it really was written to his father. The Bibliothèque saint-simonienne's article on P. Granal saying he died in 1856 also doesn't match J-P-H's death in 1854; would need to check whatever the source is for the claim, but it could well be a letter between two other Saint-Simonians written in 1856, saying that Granal had died (perhaps they had only just found out) – if the article had found any actual record of Granal's death, they would presumably have given his full name, as well as more details (such as where in France he died). --Yodin^T 15:27, 13 June 2026 (UTC)