Rouget de Lisle was a poet, violinist and singer. This made him quite a popular figure but he was an active monarchist which brought him imprisonment and disfavor particularly during the empire and the period of the restoration. While in military services he composed "Hymne a la liberte," and "Chant de guerre pour l'armie du Rhin" the latter of which was eventually reduced to the title "Marseillaise." Most of his later life was spent in poverty and disfavor until 1830 when he was supported by a family of the Choisy-le-Roi. The Marseillaise officially became the French national anthem in 1879. Of influential note, both Tchaikovsky and Schumann quoted Rouget de Lisle: the former in his "Overture of 1812," and the latter in his "Die beiden Grenadiere." ~ Keith Johnson