Delavigne, JEAN FRANÇOIS CASIMIR,

Delavigne, JEAN FRANÇOIS CASIMIR, dramatist, satirist, and lyrist, was born at Le Havre on April 4, 1793. He became one of the most popular writers in France, after the publication in 1818 of his Messéniennes, satires directed against the monarchy of the Restoration. He then turned his attention to dramatic authorship and produced Les Vêpres Siciliens (1819), a tragic piece, which was followed by the comedies, L'École des Vieillards and Les Comédiens (1821). He was made an academician in 1825. As a lyrist and satirist, he espoused the cause of the patriots in Italy, Greece, and Poland, and of the democratic party in France, but although he appears to have been a sincere politician, he failed to give natural and original expression to his convictions. His tragedy of Louis XI., which was partly founded on Quentin Durward, and an adaptation of which is familiar to English playgoers, was brought out in 1833. Among his other dramas were Le Paria, Marino Faliero, Les Enfants d'Edouard, Don Juan d'Autriche (1835), and La Fille du Cid (1839). He died on December 11, 1843. He had no true poetic faculty; neither was he a skilful dramatist, though his plays, when first produced, gained considerable popularity. In his day he was supported by the opponents of the Romantic school, but his mediocrity has come to be recognised by critics of all parties.