Bust of Jean Aicard by the sculptor Victor Nicolas

Jean François Victor Aicard (4 February 1848 – 13 May 1921) was a French

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, dramatist, and novelist.

Biography

He was born in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

. His father, Jean Aicard, was a journalist of some distinction, and the son began his career in 1867 with ''Les Jeunes Croyances'', followed in 1870 by a one-act play produced at the

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

theatre. His poems include: ''Les Rebellions et les apaisements'' (1871); ''Poèmes de Provence'' (1874), and ''La Chanson de l'enfant'' (1876), both of which were crowned by the Academy; ''Miette et Noré'' (1880), a Provençal idyll; ''Le Livre d'heures de l'amour'' (1887); ''Jésus'' (1896); a collection of poems for children (1912) and ''Hollande, Algerie'' (1913), as well as various volumes of war poetry. Of his plays the most successful was ''Le Père Lebonnard'' (1890), which was originally produced at the Théâtre Libre. Among his other works are the novels, ''Le Roi de Camargue'' (1890), ''L'Ame d'un enfant'' (1898) and ''Tata'' (1901), ''Benjamine'' (1906), ''Arlette des Mayans'' (1917), and two volumes of adventure stories, ''Un Bandit a la Française'' and its sequel ''Le fameux chevalier Gaspard de Besse'', both in 1919. ''La Vénus de Milo'' (1874) was an account of the discovery of the statue from unpublished documents. He was elected a member of the Académie française in 1909. He was elected mayor of Solliès-Ville in 1919, had the ruins of the Forbin castle listed as a historic monument and had the Comédie-Française play his play ''Forbin de Solliès ou le Testament du roi René'' there. He died in Paris, 13 May 1921.

Selected works

;Poetry * ''Les Rebellions et les apaisements'' (1871) * ''Poèmes de Provence'' (1874) * ''La Chanson de l'enfant'' (1876) * ''Miette et Noré'' (1880) * ''Lemartine'' (1883) which received the prize of the Académie française * ''Le Livre d'heures de l'amour'' (1887) * ''Jésus'' (1896) * ''Le témoin'' (1914-1916) ;Novels * ''La Vénus de Milo'' (1874) * ''Le Roi de Camargue'' (1890), translated as ''King of Camargue'' (1901) * ''En été à l'ombre'' (1895)https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69770 * ''Notre-Dame-d'Amour'' (1896), online at

* ''L'Âme d'un enfant'' (1898) * ''Tata'' (1901) * ''Benjamine'' (1906) * ''Maurin des Maures'' (1908) * ''L'illustre Maurin'' (1908) ;Dramatic works for stage * ''Pygmalion'' (1878) * ''Othello ou le More de Venise'' (1881) * ''Smilis'' (1884) * ''Au Claire de la Lune'' (1884) * ''Mascarille'' (1885) * ''Le Père Lebonnard'' (1889) * ''Don Juan ou la Comédie du siècle'' (1889) * ''La Légende du Cœur'' (1903)

References

Attribution: * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aicard, Jean 1848 births 1921 deaths Writers from Toulon 19th-century French poets 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights Members of the Académie Française French male poets French male novelists 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French male writers