Editing Arthur de Gobineau (section)

===Adolescence===
Gobineau spent the early part of his teenage years in the town of [[Inzlingen|Inzligen]] where his mother and her lover were staying. He became fluent in German.{{sfn|Budil|2008|pp=133–134}} As a staunch supporter of the House of Bourbon, his father was forced to retire from the Royal Guard after the [[July Revolution]] of 1830 brought [[House of Orléans]] King [[Louis Philippe I|Louis-Philippe]], ''Le roi citoyen'', ("the Citizen King") to power. He promised to reconcile the heritage of the French Revolution with the monarchy.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=11}} Given his family's history of supporting the Bourbons, the young Gobineau regarded the July Revolution as a disaster for France.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=20}} His views were those of a [[Legitimist]] committed to a Catholic France ruled over by the House of Bourbon.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=13}} In 1831, de Gobineau's father took custody of his three children, and his son spent the rest of his adolescence in [[Lorient]], in [[Brittany]].{{sfn|Budil|2008|p=134}}
[[File:QT - Antoine Galland.PNG|thumb|235x235px|alt=Black and white sketch of Antoine Galland | The [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] tales of [[Antoine Galland]] (pictured) had a strong influence on Gobineau in his youth.]]
Gobineau disliked his father, whom he dismissed as a boring and pedantic army officer incapable of stimulating thought.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=12}} Lorient had been founded in 1675 as a base for the [[Louis XIV's East India Company|French East India Company]] as King [[Louis XIV]] had grand ambitions for making France the dominant political and economic power in [[Asia]].{{sfn|Budil|2008|p=134}} As those ambitions were unrealized, Gobineau developed a sense of faded glory as he grew up in a city that had been built to be the dominant hub for Europe's trade with Asia. This dream went unrealized, as [[India]] became part of the [[British Empire|British]] and not the French empire.{{sfn|Budil|2008|p=134}}

As a young man, Gobineau was fascinated with the Orient, as the [[Middle East]] was known in Europe in the 19th century.{{sfn|Irwin|2016|pp=321–322}} While studying at the Collège de Bironne in [[Switzerland]], a fellow student recalled: "All of his aspirations were towards the East. He dreamt only of [[mosque]]s and [[minaret]]s; he called himself a [[Muslim]], ready to make the pilgrimage to [[Mecca]]".{{sfn|Irwin|2016|pp=321–322}} Gobineau loved Oriental tales by the French translator [[Antoine Galland]], often saying he wanted to become an [[Orientalism|Orientalist]]. He read Arab, Turkish and Persian tales in translation, becoming what the French call a "''un orientaliste de pacotille''" ("rubbish orientalist").{{sfn|Irwin|2016|p=322}} In 1835, Gobineau failed the entrance exams to the [[École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr|St. Cyr military school]].{{sfn|Budil|2008|p=134}}

In September 1835, Gobineau left for Paris with fifty francs in his pocket aiming to become a writer.{{sfn|Budil|2008|p=134}} He moved in with an uncle, Thibaut-Joseph de Gobineau, a [[Legitimists|Legitimist]] with an "unlimited" hatred of Louis-Philippe.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=15}} Reflecting his tendency towards elitism, Gobineau founded a society of Legitimist intellectuals called ''Les Scelti'' ("the elect"), which included himself, the painter Guermann John (German von Bohn) and the writer [[Maxime du Camp]].{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=16}}