BOINDIN
BOLIN
times claim him as orthodox. Brunetiere,
however, in the Grande Encyclopedic, can
didly admits that " in regard to religion he
is an independent, leaning to the side of
Moliere [a drastic Eationalist] rather than
Eacine." The Jesuits who denied that he
was a Christian (and now claim him) were,
Brunetiere says, right. Lanson, in his
authoritative Histoire de la litterature
Francaise (pp. 495-97), easily shows, by
numerous quotations from his poetry, that
he was a Eationalist. D. Mar. 13, 1711.
BOINDIN, Nicolas, French writer. B. May 29, 1676. After a short period of service in the musketeers he succeeded to his father s position as Procureur du Eoi, and he afterwards became Eoyal Censor. He was a member of the Academy of Inscriptions, but his outspoken Atheism prevented him from obtaining admission to the Academy of Sciences, though he was one of the foremost French scholars of his day. Grimm says that he distinguished himself from a fellow unbeliever thus : " Dumarsais is a Jansenist Atheist ; I am a Molinist Atheist." He refused to retract before death, and was buried uncere moniously by night. D. Nov. 30, 1751.
BOISSIER, Marie Louis Gaston, French historian. B. Aug. 15, 1823. Ed. Paris. After teaching for some years at Nimes and Angouleme he was appointed professor at the College Charlemagne (Paris), then at the College de France. In 1865 he became professor of rhetoric and ancient literature at the Ecole Normale. In 1876 he was admitted to the Academy, and he after wards became its Perpetual Secretary. Boissier was one of the highest authorities and most charming writers on ancient Eome (see, especially, his La Religion Romaine, 2 vols., 1878, and La Fin du Paganisme, 2 vols., 1891). He rarely touches controversy, but his Eationalist views are plainly expressed in an appendix to his Fin du Paganisme on the perse cutions. He is also severely criticized by the Abbe Delfour in his La Religion
des Contemporains (1895). D. June 10,
1908.
BOITO, Arrigo, Italian musical composer and poet. B. Feb. 24, 1842. Ed. Milan Conservatorio. He wrote a Cantata in 1861, but for some years occupied himself chiefly with poetry and criticism. A visit to Germany brought him under the influence of Wagner, and he returned to music. In 1866, however, he took part in Garibaldi s campaign, and, at its failure, he fled to France. Two years later he put the opera Mefistofele (based on Goethe s Faust) on the stage at Milan, where its free derision of religious ideas caused a violent reaction on the part of the Catholics. He after wards became one of Italy s leading com posers, and he also published several volumes of poems. He was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (1895), a Com- mendatore (1892), and an Inspector- General of technical instruction in the Italian Conservatorio. D. June 10, 1918.
BOJER, Johan, Swedish novelist. B. Mar. 6, 1872. Beginning life as a fisher man, Bojer turned after a time to clerical work, and eventually became a journalist. In 1895 he began to write for the stage, but the novel proved to be his best field, and he is well known as one of the most brilliant and prolific novelists of Sweden. Several of his novels (The Power of a Lie, trans. 1908; The Great Hunger, trans. 1918, etc.) have been translated into English. In the latter novel his drastic Eationalism is boldly expressed. He depicts humanity turning away equally from the blood stained Jehovah of the Old Testament and the pale ascetic of the New. The need of our age is a pure religion of humanity, he insists.
BOLIN, Professor Andreas Wilhelm,
Ph.D., Finnish philosopher. B. Aug. 2, 1835. Ed. Petrograd and Helsingfors. Bolin was appointed professor at Helsing fors University in 1865, and University Librarian in 1873. He has translated
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