Hervieu, Paul-Ernest

▪ French author

born Sept. 9, 1857, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

died Sept. 25, 1915, Paris

      French novelist and playwright, most of whose dramas were tragedies centring on family conflicts and relationships, intended to teach some moral lesson.

      After training as a lawyer, Hervieu entered the diplomatic service. Later, he began writing novels and short stories, of which the best are Flirt (1890) and Peints par eux-mêmes (1893). He then turned to writing plays, and for some 20 years he was associated with the Comédie-Française. One of his most successful plays was a historical drama of the French Revolution, Théroigne de Méricourt, which he wrote especially for the Comédie's leading actress, Sarah Bernhardt. His best works had a legal background, notably Les Tenailles (1895; In Chains), La Loi de l'homme (1897; “The Law of Man”), and Le Dédale (1903; The Labyrinth). All of these were directed against the strict divorce laws then operating in France. In 1899 Hervieu was elected to the French Academy.

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