biography
pronunciation:
[reeshpĩ]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1849–1926)
|
| biography:
| Poet, playwright, and novelist, born in Médéa, N Algeria. He gave up medical training to study literature at the Ecole Normale, and later served in the Franco-Prussian War. The deep realism of his first book of poems Chanson des gueux (1876, Song of the Poor), earned him a spell in prison for its coarse language (‘outrage aux bonnes moeurs’). Other works include Les Caresses (1877, Caresses), Les Blasphèmes (1884, Blasphemies), and La Mer (1886, The Sea), which recalls his time as a sailor and docker. A prolific novelist, he was interested in psychological anomalies, as in Les Etapes d'un réfractaire (1872) and La Glu (1881), which he adapted for the theatre. His successful plays include Nana Sahib (1883) with Sarah Bernhardt, the comedy Le Flibustier (1888), Par le Glaive (1894), and Le Chemineau (1897). He was elected to the Académie Français in 1908, later becoming a director. His son, Jacques, was also a playwright, and Tiarko, his brother, composed songs and music for the stage, including the famous ‘Petite Marchande d'Allumettes’. |
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