Assolant, ALFRED

Assolant, ALFRED, French author, was born in 1827 at Aubusson, Creuse, and became a teacher in Paris. In 1852 he visited the United States, and on his return published some brilliant sketches, as Scènes de la Vie des Etats-Unis (1859). From his pen now came a long series of tales and novels, including Brancas (1859), Marcomir, Gabriclle de Chênevert, Les Aventures du Capitaine Corcoran, François Buchamor, Pendragon (1881). He was equally notable as a sarcastic and powerful journalist and political writer, bitterly assailing the empire and the opportunist republican government. He died in May 1886.