In The Physiology of the Employee (1841)—a pamphlet-length essay on the misery of bureaucracy—the French novelist Honoré de Balzac wrote: “An intern is to the Civil Service what a choirboy is to the Church, or what an army child is to his Regiment, or what rats and sidekicks are to Theatres: innocent, gullible, and blinded by illusions”.
Tired of being an underpaid and overworked intern? Cheer up: In 1841, Honoré de Balzac was in that very position too! Over at the New Statesman, Philip Maughan looks at the long history of the internship and the position’s notable forerunners.
