AVENEL, GEORGES:
French author; born at Chaumont-en-Vexin, department of the Oise, France, Dec. 31, 1828; died at Bougival July 1, 1876. He was a brother of Paul Avenel. Avenel devoted the greater part of his life to a study of the French Revolution. In 1865 he published his first book, "Anacharsis Clootz, l'Orateur du Genre Humain," after which he plunged with renewed energy into historical research. The outcome of several years of continuous study was the publication of "Lundis Révolutionnaires," Paris, 1875, a collection of essays representing only a portion of his extensive researches. He died before he could finish the second series of his "Lundis," which was in process of preparation, and in which the biography of Pache was to occupy an important place. Of the first series, one chapter has been published separately under the title, "La Vraie Marie Antoinette, d'après la Correspondence Secrète," Paris, 1876. Avenel also edited an improved and popular edition of the complete works of Voltaire, generally known as the "édition du siècle," 9 vols., in 1867-70.
- La Grande, Encyclopédie, s.v.;
- Vapereau, Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains, Paris, 1893.
