Henri De Graffigny
Henri de Graffigny, born Raoul Marquis in 1863 in Graffigny-Chemin, France, was a notable figure in the realms of popular science and adventure fiction. Initially a copper-plate engraver, he joined the editorial team of *La Science populaire* in 1880, where he worked to popularize scientific knowledge. Graffigny is particularly recognized for his contributions to adventure fiction, drawing inspiration from the works of Jules Verne. His first major work, *De la terre aux étoiles*, was published in 1887 and was followed by the ambitious collaboration *Les Aventures extraordinaires d'un savant russe* with Georges Le Faure, which spanned four volumes from 1889 to 1896.
A passionate balloonist, Graffigny’s interest in flight and meteorology informed much of his writing, including works that explored the possibilities of interplanetary travel. Although some critics have viewed him as less talented than his contemporaries, his role in popularizing scientific concepts is widely acknowledged. Graffigny also edited the periodical *Euréka*, contributing to the science fiction genre. He passed away in 1942, leaving behind a legacy that intertwines adventure with scientific inquiry.
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Henri De Graffigny
Writer
- Born: 1863
- Birthplace: Graffigny-Chemin, Haut-Marne, France
- Died: 1942
Biography
Henri de Graffigny was the pseudonym of Raoul Marquis, who was born in 1863 at Graffigny-Chemin in the Haut-Marne. He worked as a copper-plate engraver before joining the editorial staff of La Science populaire, the leading French periodical devoted to the popularization of science, in 1880. He produced numerous practical manuals on engineering, agriculture, and various other fields of applied science. He also became one of the leading writers in the subgenre of adventure fiction pioneered by Jules Verne’s voyages extraordinaires.
Graffigny launched his career as a Vernian romancer in 1887 with De la terre aux étoiles before embarking on a massive and lavishly-illustrated collaboration with Georges Le Faure, Les Aventures extraordinarires d’un savant russe. The project’s four volumes were issued between 1889 and 1896, the first carrying an enthusiastic introduction by Camille Flammarion, the leading popularizer of science in France and a consistent advocate of educational fiction based in science. Graffigny concentrated on nonfiction for some years following his collaboration with Le Faure, but resumed solo productions in a similar vein in 1908, still recapitulating Vernian themes.
While working for La Science populaire, Graffigny became an enthusiastic balloonist, ostensibly in the interests of meteorological research, but he showed far more interest than many of his fellow Vernians in adventures that took their heroes far from the Earth’s surface. Although De la terre aux étoiles is not quite as extravagant as its title promises, taking in the moon, Venus, and a ride on a comet, the Le Faure collaborations are far more ambitious and Voyage de cinq Américans dans les planètes is also far- ranging. Les Diamants de la Lune attempts to be more conscientiously realistic in its depiction of interplanetary flight. Jean-Marc Lofficier records that after flying a rocket-powered model aeroplane in 1904, Graffigny maintained a steady flow of publications on the feasibility of rocket-power spaceflight.
Pierre Versins’s Encyclopédie de l’utopie et de la science fiction is rather dismissive of Graffigny’s talents as a writer of fiction—considering him distinctly inferior to Le Faure—but admits his significance as a popularizer of science. As well as La Science populaire, he edited the periodical Euréka, for which Louis- Ferdinand Destouches, also known as Céline, worked briefly from 1916 to 1919. Céline’s affectionatley caricaturish depiction of Marquis/Graffigny as Courtial des Pereires in Mort à crédit now seems to be his main claim to fame, although that hardly does justice to the extent of his endeavors. He died in 1942.