Mercier, Alfred, 1816-1894. | Tulane University Special Collections

Name: Mercier, Alfred, 1816-1894.

Variant Name: Mercier, Charles-Alfred, 1816-1894.

Historical Note: Charles-Alfred Mercier was born in McDonoghville near New Orleans, La., June 3, 1816, son of Jean-Baptiste Mercier and Marie-Héloïse Leduc, and brother of Armand Mercier.  He was educated in Paris in medicine and law, and began publishing literary works in 1840, while still in France.  Following the Revolution of 1848, he returned to New Orleans, where he practiced medicine and continued writing.    During the American Civil War, he returned to France and from there, advocated for the Confederacy.  Afterward, he resumed medical practice in New Orleans, and was among the founders of a group promoting French literature in Louisiana, l'Athénée Louisianais.    He wrote nostalgically of plantation life in antebellum Louisiana.  He was married and had three children.  Alfred Mercier died in New Orleans, May 12, 1894.

Sources: Manuscripts Collection 444 and Dictionary of Louisiana Biography online

Note Author: sp

Records or Manuscript Collections Created by Mercier, Alfred, 1816-1894.