CAHOUR, ARSÈNE

CAHOUR, ARSÈNE. - French Jesuit and writer, b. at St-Hilaire du Harcouët (Manche) on 8 June 1806, d. at Le Mans on 14 Sept. 1871. Having entered the novitiate at Montrouge in 1825, he pursued theological studies in Rome (1831-34). Until 1848 he taught rhetoric and literature to his young fellow religious at Brugelette; after 1849 he lived in Paris, devoting himself to the apostolic ministry and to literary studies. He wrote articles on history and literary criticism in the Etudes religieuses, tragedies for colleges, an apologetic work, Des Jésuites, par un Jésuite (2 vols., Paris 1843-44, reprinted and translated into various languages); a volume, Des études classiques et des études professionnelles (ibid. 1852), connected with Gaume’s controversy over the “Christian classics,” while also editing collections, subsequently reprinted many times for use in colleges, such as: Chefs-d'œuvre d'éloquence française (ibid. 1854), Poésies françaises distribuées et annotées à l'usage des collèges (3 vols., ibid. 1856 ff.).