Victor Cochinat, who was born in Martinique, was particularly close to both Louis Lherminier and Privat d’Anglemont. Admitted to the bar in 1846, he contributed to the newspaper Les Antilles, but after the December 2, 1851 coup d’état, he was dismissed, and decided to go to continental France and devote his time to journalism. Starting out in Rouen, then moving to Paris, first at Alexandre Dumas's Mousquetaire (Musketeer), and then at Figaro. He founded La Causerie before joining the staff at Millaud's Petit Journal. He has gone down in literary history for having described the youthful generation of poets as a bunch of "nasty little men," after a performance of François Coppée's Passant (Passer-by). The group adopted the insult, founding the "Nastly Little Men's dinners," which all the young Parnassiasts attended. It is worth pointing out that the description was also a reponse to the racist attacks that Cochinat was often subjected to. Upon his return to the Antilles, he became the first curator of the Victor Schœlcher Libarary in Fort de France.