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Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor

French writer (1825–1881)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ3372509 ↗
Source-derived summary

Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor (11 July 1827 in Paris – 9 July 1881 in Paris), known as Paul de Saint-Victor, a French author and critic. He is likely most known today as a French cultural figure mentioned by Marcel Proust in the novel In Search of Lost Time.

Personal

Saint-Victor was born in Paris. His father Jacques Bins, comte de Saint-Victor (1772–1858), is chiefly remembered for his poem L'Espérance, and for an excellent verse translation of Anacreon.

He had an affair with Lia Félix, a sister of the famous actress Rachel Félix. They had a girl, Claire, on 26 October 1860, whose godfather was Edmond de Goncourt.

Saint-Victor died in Paris on 9 July 1881.

Career

Saint-Victor ceased using his title as he found it out of keeping with his democratic principles. He began as a drama critic on the Pays newspaper in 1851, and in 1855 he succeeded Théophile Gautier on the Presse. In 1866 he migrated to the Liberté, and in 1869 joined the staff of the Moniteur universel.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor” as french writer (1825–1881). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1827, 1881, 1772, 1858—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1825-07-11. The account is most persuasive where Paul, Bins and comte can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as french writer (1825–1881). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3372509. VIAF identifies the subject as 34496102. The Library of Congress control number is no95009697. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1827, 1881, 1772 and 1858.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor primary sources, Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor archive and Paul research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.