Albert Robida
Encyclopedia
Albert Robida was an illustrator, etcher, lithographer, caricaturist, and novelist. He edited and published La Caricature magazine for 12 years. Through the 1880s he wrote an acclaimed trilogy of futuristic novels. In the 1900s he created 520 illustrations for Pierre Giffard's weekly serial La Guerre Infernale.
, France
, the son of a carpenter. He studied to become a notary, but was more interested in caricature. In 1866 he joined Journal Amusant as an illustrator. In 1880, with Georges Decaux
, he founded his own magazine La Caricature, which he edited for 12 years. He illustrated tourist guides, works of popular history, and literary classics. His fame disappeared after World War I
.
These works drew comparison to Jules Verne
. Unlike Verne, he proposed inventions integrated into everyday life, not creations of mad scientists, and he imagined the social developments that arose from them, often with accuracy: social advancement of women, mass tourism, pollution, etc. His La Guerre au vingtième siècle describes modern warfare, with robotic missiles and poison gas. His Téléphonoscope
was a flat screen television
display that delivered the latest news 24-hours a day, the latest plays, courses, and teleconferences.
Robida illustrated works by Pierre Giffard
.
Biography
He was born in CompiègneCompiègne
Compiègne is a city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.The city is located along the Oise River...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the son of a carpenter. He studied to become a notary, but was more interested in caricature. In 1866 he joined Journal Amusant as an illustrator. In 1880, with Georges Decaux
Georges Decaux
Georges Decaux was a French professional road bicycle racer from 1952 to 1956. In 1952, Decaux won a stage in the Tour de France.- Palmarès :1952- External links :*...
, he founded his own magazine La Caricature, which he edited for 12 years. He illustrated tourist guides, works of popular history, and literary classics. His fame disappeared after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Futuristic Trilogy
Albert Robida was rediscovered thanks to his trilogy of futuristic works:- Le Vingtième Siècle (1883)
- La Guerre au vingtième siècle (1887)
- Le Vingtième siècle. La vie électriqueLe Vingtième siècle. La vie électriqueLe Vingtième siècle. La vie électrique is a science fiction novel written by the French author Albert Robida. It describes various aspects of life in France as it is supposed to take place in 1955. At the center of the plot are the scientific work and technological advances made by the illustrious...
(1890)
These works drew comparison to Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
. Unlike Verne, he proposed inventions integrated into everyday life, not creations of mad scientists, and he imagined the social developments that arose from them, often with accuracy: social advancement of women, mass tourism, pollution, etc. His La Guerre au vingtième siècle describes modern warfare, with robotic missiles and poison gas. His Téléphonoscope
Telephonoscope
A telephonoscope was an early concept of videophone and television, conceptualized in the late 1870's through the 1890's. It was mentioned in various early science fiction works such as Le Vingtième siècle. La vie électrique and other works written by Albert Robida...
was a flat screen television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
display that delivered the latest news 24-hours a day, the latest plays, courses, and teleconferences.
Works with Pierre Giffard
Pierre Giffard
Pierre Giffard was a French journalist, a pioneer of modern political reporting, a newspaper publisher and a prolific sports organiser...
.
- La Fin du Cheval on the inevitable replacement of the horse by the bicycle, then by the car.
- La Guerre Infernale, the 1908 serial adventure novel for children that appeared every Saturday, and Robida added the 520 illustrations. It described the second world war, years before it happened, describing an attack on LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
by the Germans and war between JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was subsequently republished as a book.
Critical Studies
- Elizabeth Emery, "Albert Robida, Medieval Publicist," in: Cahier Calin: Makers of the Middle Ages. Essays in Honor of William Calin, ed. Richard Utz and Elizabeth Emery (Kalamazoo, MI: Studies in Medievalism, 2011), pp. 51–55.
External links
- The friends of Albert Robida site
- 1942 Life magazine article on accuracy of Robida's predictions of future warfare, with pictures