Souvestre, ÉMILE

Souvestre, ÉMILE, French novelist and playwright, was born at Morlaix, April 15, 1806, and, after some years of struggle, drifted into journalism, and at thirty went up to Paris, where he soon made some reputation by his charming sketches of Brittany and its people. These form the still delightful books, Les Derniers Bretons and Foyer Breton, his best work. Another deservedly popular book, Un Philosophe sous les Toits, was crowned by the Academy in 1851. Souvestre's plays were less successful than his stories, which, although didactic, are really seldom dull. He died in Paris, 5th July 1854. His Causeries historiques et littéraires (2 vols. 1854) are interesting.