Louis Cazamian

Who was Louis Cazamian?

Louis François Cazamian was a French academic and literary critic. He was the author of many books in both French and English dealing with English literature, including A History of English Literature, Le Roman Social en Angleterre, and The Development of English Humor. Other works include The Social Impact of Dickens's Novels, L'Humour de Shakespeare and Symbolisme et Poésie.

As professor of English literature at the University of Paris, he delivered three Rice Lectures in 1911: "The Unity of France", "The France of Today and Tomorrow" and "The Personality of France". He delivered the 1931 Andrew Lang Lecture, "Andrew Lang and the Maid of France". He received honorary degrees from Oxford, St Andrews, and Durham.

He was professor of modern English literature and civilization at the Sorbonne from 1925–1945. He supervised, among others, Raja Rao and Dragos Protopopescu in their time at the Sorbonne. He is thanked in the preface to Ian Watt's The Rise of the Novel.