Éliphas LÉVI’s biography

EliphasLEVI was the pseudonym of Alphonse Louis Constant, born in Paris on February 8, 1810.

His parents, poor but kind, as he would later write, were proud of their son’s abilities and were offered the opportunity to have him educated for free in a seminary. Thus, at the age of fifteen, he entered the Petit Séminaire of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet to complete his classical studies. From that moment, family life was over for him. He then proceeded to the Grand Séminaire of Saint-Sulpice, where he began studying theology.

His future seemed set, but his true nature would soon prevail. Having become a subdeacon in 1833, he was entrusted with teaching catechism. It was during this period that he first awakened to love through a young woman named Adèle Allenbach. In 1835 he became a deacon, and in 1836, just eight days before being ordained a priest, Abbé Constant decided to abandon the clerical path—a path that, as one of his friends would later say at his funeral, might have led him to high ecclesiastical honors. Nevertheless, throughout his life he demonstrated the spirit of charity instilled by the Church and remained in constant pursuit of truth through the union of Faith and Science.

Upon leaving the seminary, he incurred the wrath of his superiors. He was ill-prepared for civilian life, which, unfortunately, would confront him with many hardships and sorrows. His paternal affection for Adèle led him to write later, “The young girl called me only her little father, and I called her my little daughter.”

At the age of thirty-two, he met two young women who were friends: Eugénie Agathe Chénevier and Noémie Cadiot. Although he preferred Eugénie, he also fell under the spell of Noémie, whom he was compelled to marry in 1846 to avoid a scandal with her father. Seven years later, Noémie fled their home to join the Marquis de Montferrier. In 1865, the marriage was annulled. Several children had been conceived during the marriage, including twin boys who died shortly after birth. None survived to adulthood, including his little Marie, who died at the age of seven.

With Eugénie Agathe Chénevier, Éliphas had a natural son, Xavier-Alphonse, born on September 29, 1846. The boy never knew his father, who nonetheless took care of his education, though he never bore his father’s name. Reliable sources indicate that descendants of this son still live in France today.

ÉLIPHAS LÉVI died on May 31, 1875, at two o’clock in the afternoon. He was buried in the Ivry-sur-Seine cemetery after a religious service at the Church of Saint-François-Xavier, located on the Boulevard des Invalides.