About Pierre Larousse
Pierre Athanase Larousse (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ atanaz laʁus]; 23 October 1817 – 3 January 1875) was a French grammarian, lexicographer and encyclopaedist. He published many of the outstanding educational and reference works of 19th-century France, including the 15-volume Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle. == Early life == Pierre Larousse was born in Toucy, where his father was a blacksmith. At the age of sixteen he won a scholarship at the teaching school in Versailles. Four years later, he returned to Toucy to teach in a primary school, but became frustrated by the archaic and rigid teaching methods. In 1840 he moved to Paris to improve his own education by taking free courses. == Career == From 1848 to 1851, Larousse taught at a private boarding school, where he met his future wife, Suzanne Caubel (although they did not marry until 1872). Together, in 1849, they published a French language course for children. In 1851 he met Augustin Boyer, another disillusioned ex-teacher, and together they founded the Librairie Larousse et Boyer (Larousse and Boyer Bookshop). They published progressive textbooks for children, and instruction manuals for teachers, with an emphasis on developing the pupils' creativity and independence.
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