Ballanche

Ballanche, Pierre Simon, born at Lyons in 1776, abandoned in 1813 the business of printer for the pursuit of literature. After spending some years in Italy he settled in Paris in 1824, and his works, dealing chiefly with the regeneration of society, and couched in mystical language, hit off the prevailing spirit of the time. He was elected to the Academy in 1841. La Palingenesie Sociale, Antigone, Orphee, La Vision d'Hebal, and most of his other productions are mere rhapsodies, but his views are set forth with more clearness in Les Institutions Sociales. He died in 1847.