born Sept. 27, 1821, Geneva, Switz.

died May 11, 1881, Geneva

Swiss writer known for his Journal intime, a masterpiece of self-analysis. Despite apparent success (as professor of aesthetics, then of philosophy, at Geneva), he felt himself a failure. Driven in on himself, he lived in his Journal, kept from 1847 until his death and first published in part as Fragments d'un journal intime (1883–84; later enlarged editions; definitive ed. by L. Bopp, 1939–48). It reveals a sensitive man of great intellectual ability, struggling for values against the skepticism of the age. Widely translated, it gained Amiel lasting fame.