French novelist and man of letters, born in Paris on the 3rd of April 1848. After the war of 1870 he became editor of the Pays and the Constitutionnel in succession. In collaboration with the engineer and dramatist Louis Denayrouze (1848–1910) he produced the play Regina Sarpi, and in 1877 Marthe. He was an admirer of George Sand and bitterly opposed to the realistic modern novel. He began a series of novels, Les Batailles de la vie, of a simple and idealistic character, which, although attacked by the critics as unreal and commonplace, were very popular. The series included Serge Panine (1881), which was crowned by the Academy; Le Maître de forges (1882), La Grande Marnière (1885), Volonté (1888), Dernier amour (1891). Many of his novels have been dramatized with great success, Le Maître de forges, produced at the Gymnase in 1883, holding for the stage for a whole year. His later publications include Le Crépuscule (1902), Le Marchand de poisons (1903), La Conquérante (1905), La Dixième Muse (1906). He published in 1908 La Route Rouge and in 1912 La Serre de l’Aigle. His last work was Journal d’un Bourgeois de Paris pedant la Guerre de 1914 (1914). He died on the 5th of May 1918.
