Louis Marc Adolphe Belot was a French

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. He was born on 6 November 1829 in Pointe-à-Pitre, and died on 18 December 1890 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Biography

Adolphe Belot was the son of an attorney employed by the

Pointe-à-Pitre Pointe-à-Pitre (; , , or simply , ) is the second most populous commune of Guadeloupe (after Les Abymes). Guadeloupe is an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in the Lesser Antilles, of which it is a ''Subprefectu ...

court. Born in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, France, Belot was raised in the metropolis at the Sainte-Barbe college before obtaining his license at the Faculty of Law in Paris. In 1854, he was registered by the board of lawyers of Nancy. After several trips to the Americas, he devoted himself to writing, publishing ''Le Châtiment'' in 1855 before approaching the theater with the comedy ''À la Campagne'' in 1857. In 1859, in collaboration with Charles Edmond Villetard de Prunières, he wrote ''Le Testament de César Girodot'', a show which was performed over 500 times at the Odéon theater. Belot wrote the novel ''Mademoiselle Giraud, My Wife'' in 1870, centered around a naive young man and his eponymous wife who refuses to consummate their marriage. The book was an immense success, selling at least 66,000 copies and has been published in 33 editions around the world. Belot died of

pulmonary congestion The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

at the age of 61, on 18 December 1890. Belot fathered two daughters: Marthe and Jeanne, the latter of which became an actress at the Odéon theatre under the pseudonym of "Miss Belly". She died of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

fever in January 1899.

Theater works

*1859 ''Un Secret de Famille'', 5 acts, Théâtre de l'Ambigu *1860 ''La Vengeance du Mari'', 3 acts, Théâtre de l'Odéon *1861 ''Les Parents Terribles'', 3 acts, a collaboration with , Théâtre de l'Odéon *1862 ''Les Maris à Système'', 3 acts, Théâtre du Gymnase *1862 ''Le Vrai Courage'', 2 acts, Théâtre du Vaudeville *1863 ''Les Indifférents'', 4 acts, Théâtre de l'Odéon *1865 ''Le Passé de M. Jouanne'', 4 acts, a collaboration with Henri Crisafulli, Théâtre du Gymnase *1865 ''L’Habitude et le Souvenir'', 4 acts, Théâtre du Vaudeville *1867 ''La Vénus de Gordes'', with Ernest Daudet *1867 ''Les Souvenirs'', 4 acts, Théâtre du Vaudeville *1868 ''Le Drame de la Rue de la Paix'', 5 acts, Théâtre de l'Odéon *1868 ''Miss Multon'', 3 acts, with , Théâtre du Vaudeville, 150 shows *1869 ''La Leçon du Jour'', 4 acts, with Eugène Nus, Théâtre du Vaudeville *1871 ''L’Article 47'', 5 acts, Théâtre de l’Ambigu, 100 shows *1873 ''La Marquise'', 4 acts, with Eugène Nus, Théatre du Gymnase *1876 ''Fromont Jeune et Risler Aîné'', 5 acts, (adaptation of a novel by

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ' ...

), Théâtre du Vaudeville *1880 ''Les Étrangleurs de Paris'', a drama in 5 acts and 12 scenes, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin *1885 ''Sapho'', 5 acts, (adaptation of a novel by

), Théâtre du Gymnase; (an English translation by Elizabeth Beall Ginty)

Short stories and novels

*"Un Cas de Conscience" *''Le Secret Terrible'', a collaboration with , Dentu, Paris *''Le Parricide'', a collaboration with Jules Dautin, Dentu, Paris *''Dacolard et Lubin'' (sequel to ''Le Parricide''), a collaboration with Jules Dautin, Dentu, Paris *''La Sultane Parisienne'', Dentu, Paris *''Nouvelles'', 1857 *''Trois nouvelles'', 1863 *''La Vénus de Gordes'', a collaboration with Ernest Daudet, 1866 *''Le Drame de la Rue de la Paix'', Michel Lévy frères, Paris, 1867 *''L'Article 47'' (La fille de couleur; Le journal d'une jeune fille; La haute police), Dentu, Paris, 1870 *''Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme'', 1870 *''La Femme de feu'', 1872 *''Hélène et Mathilde'', 1874 *''Les Mystères Mondains'', 1875

Awards and honors

*Legion of Honour - 1867.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography *Ernest Glaeser, Biographie nationale des contemporains : rédigée par une Société de gens de lettres sous la direction de M. Ernest Glaeser, Paris, Glaeser et cie, 1878, p. 838. *Henri Adolphe Lara, Contribution de la Guadeloupe à la pensée française : 1635–1935, Paris, Jean Crès, 1936, p. 301.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belot, Louis Marc Adolphe French male novelists 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 1829 births 1890 deaths French male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French novelists Sensation novelists Writers from Le Havre 19th-century French lawyers Deaths from pulmonary edema Recipients of the Legion of Honour 19th-century French short story writers French male short story writers Deaths in Paris