BRIEF CHRONOLOGY
1767 25 October: Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque born in Lausanne,
Switzerland, the son of Juste de Constant de Rebecque, an officer in the
service of Holland.
10 November: death of Benjamin’s mother Henriette, née de Chandieu.
Benjamin entrusted to nursemaids.
1772 Juste puts Benjamin in the care of Marianne Magnin, later his second
wife. Subsequently the boy is educated by a number of unsatisfactory
tutors.
1780 Benjamin spends two months at Oxford with his father.
1782–
3
Student at Erlangen University, Germany. Fights duels.1783–
5
Student at Edinburgh University, friendship with John Wilde and James
Mackintosh. Begins study of the history of religions. Attends many
debates at the Speculative Society. Gambling debts.1785 Affair with Madame Johannot in Brussels.
1786–
7
Friendship with the novelist Isabelle de Charrière whom Constant meets
while staying in Paris. Runs away to England and Scotland during the
summer of 1787.1788 After staying with Madame de Charrière near Neuchâtel, Switzerland,
Constant takes up a post at the Court of the Duke of Brunswick (1788–
94). Unhappy at Court.
1789 Marries Minna von Cramm, a lady-in-waiting at the Court of Brunswick,
whom he divorces in 1795. Friendship with Jakob Mauvillon, who dies in
1794.
1793 Friendship with Charlotte, née von Hardenberg.
1794 Meets Germaine de Staël in Switzerland, will have a long relationship
with her.
1795 Beginning of Constant’s political activity in Paris, publishes pamphlets.
1799 24 December: Constant elected to the Tribunate.
1800 Passionate affair with Anna Lindsay (1800–1).
1802 Constant excluded from the Tribunate for his opposition to Bonaparte.
1804 In Weimar with Madame de Staël. Meets Goethe, Schiller and Wieland.
1806 October: begins affair with Charlotte von Hardenberg, and the novel from
which Adolphe and Cécile will eventually emerge.
1807 Torn between Madame de Staël and Charlotte. Falls under influence of a