Editing Nicolas Chauvin

{{Short description|Legendary French soldier}}
{{about||the French rugby union player|Nicolas Chauvin (rugby union)}}
'''Nicolas Chauvin''' ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|oʊ|v|ɪ|n}}, {{IPA|fr|ʃɔvɛ̃|lang}}) is a legendary, possibly apocryphal or fictional [[France|French]] soldier and [[patriotism|patriot]] who is supposed to have served in the First Army of the French Republic and later in ''[[La Grande Armée]]'' of [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]]. His name is the [[eponym]] of ''[[chauvinism]]'', originally a term for excessive [[Nationalism |nationalistic]] fervor, but later used to refer to any form of bigotry or bias (e.g., ''[[Chauvinism#Male chauvinism|male chauvinism]]'').

According to the stories that developed about him, Chauvin was born in [[Rochefort, Charente-Maritime|Rochefort]] around 1780.  He enlisted at age 18, and he served honorably and well. He is said to have been wounded 17 times in his nation's service, resulting in his severe disfigurement and maiming. For his loyalty and dedication, Napoleon himself presented the soldier with a [[Sabre]] [[Weapons of Honor|of Honor]] and a [[pension]] of 200 [[French franc|francs]].<ref name="barnhart">Barnhart, Clarence Lewis (1967). ''The New Century Handbook of English Literature.'' p. 232. Appleton-Century-Crofts, ASIN B000RZQH3W.</ref>

Chauvin's distinguished record of service and his love and devotion for Napoleon, which endured despite the price he willingly paid for them, is said to have earned him only ridicule and derision in [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Restoration France]], when [[Bonapartism]] became increasingly unpopular.{{Lead citation needed|date=April 2025}}

==Historicity==
Historical research has not identified any biographical details of a real Nicolas Chauvin, leading to the claim that he may have been a wholly fictional figure. Researcher Gérard Puymège concluded that Nicolas Chauvin did not exist, believing him to be a legend, which crystallized under the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Restoration]] and [[July Monarchy]], from the pen of songwriters, vaudeville and historians. He argues that the figure of Chauvin continues the long tradition of the mythological farmer-soldier or ''[[miles gloriosus]]'' ("boastful soldier") from ancient Roman theater, or the ''[[alazon]]'' of ancient Greek comedy.<ref>{{cite book
|last=de Puymège
|first=Gérard
|chapter=The Good Soldier Chauvin
|editor=Pierre Nora
|title=Realms of Memory
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Va9svbIgLwC
|year=1997
|publisher=Columbia University Press
|isbn=0-231-10634-3
|page=337
}}</ref> Chauvin was originally popularized by Cogniard brothers' ''La Cocarde Tricolore'' (1831), where instead of a Napoleonic veteran he was a young naive soldier learning blindly aggressive patriotism during the [[Invasion of Algiers in 1830|Algerian campaign of 1830]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sessions |first=Jennifer E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtBqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT166 |title=By Sword and Plow: France and the Conquest of Algeria |date=2017-03-15 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-5446-2 |language=en}}</ref>

When the Old Guard was surrounded and made its last stand at [[La Belle Alliance]], he supposedly shouted in defiance to a call for their honorable surrender: "[[The Guard dies but does not surrender|The Old Guard dies but does not surrender!]]", implying blind and unquestioned [[zealous]] [[worship|devotion]] to one's country (or other group of reference). The apocryphal phrase was attributed to the Old Guard's commander, [[Pierre Cambronne]], but Cambronne's actual reply was later asserted by other sources to be "''Merde!''" ("Shit!").<ref name="Boller and George">{{cite book |last=Boller, Jr. |first=Paul F. |author2=George, John |title=They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions |year=1989 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |isbn=0-19-505541-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/theyneversaiditb00boll }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Lei Feng]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Legendary French people]]
[[Category:Chauvinism]]
[[Category:European people whose existence is disputed]]
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