Alfred Capus (25 November 18581 November 1922) was a French

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

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 ...

, who was born in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

and died in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

Biography

Son of a lawyer from

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 ...

, Alfred Capus went to university 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 ...

. After failing several entrance tests for higher-education schools and working as a draughtsman for a while, he went on to become a journalist. One of his first articles was an

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

of Darwin.Barrett H. Clark (1915), ''Contemporary French Dramatists,'' Stewart & Kidd Company, Cincinnati, page 139 He went on to write humorous pieces for papers such as '' Gaulois'', '' L'Écho de Paris'' and ''L'Illustration''. He also wrote for ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'', under the penname of ''Graindorge''. In 1914, he became the editor of '' Figaro''. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he wrote stridently patriotic pieces. On 12 February 1914, he became a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Work and themes

In 1878, in collaboration with L. Vonoven, he published a volume of short stories; the next year the two produced a one-act piece, ''Le Mari malgre lui'', at the Théâtre Cluny. This cites Édouard Quet, ''Alfred Capus'' (1904), with appreciations by various authors, in the series of ''Célébrités d'aujourd'hui''. His novels, ''Qui perd gagne'' (1890), ''Faux Depart'' (1891), ''Année des d'aventures'' (1895), describe the struggles of three young men at the beginning of their career. From the first of these he took his first comedy, ''Brignol et sa fille'' (Vaudeville, November 23, 1894). The German film '' Leontine's Husbands'', released in 1928 and starring Claire Rommer, Georg Alexander, Adele Sandrock and Truus van Aalten, was adapted from Capus' 1900 comedy ''Les Maris de Leontine''.

Bibliography

Plays

*' (1896), written with

Alphonse Allais Alphonse Allais (20 October 1854 in Honfleur – 28 October 1905 in Paris) was a French writer, journalist and humorist. He was also the editor of the '' Chat Noir,'' a satirical magazine. Life From 1879, Alphonse Allais attended the ″Hydrop ...

*' (1897) *' (1897) *' (1898) *' (1900) *' (1900) *' (1901) *' (1901) (the basis of the 1921 comédie musicale ''

La petite fonctionnaire LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'') *' (1902) *' (1902) *' (1903), with Emmanuel Arène, which was produced in London by George Alexander as ''The Man of the Moment'' *' (1904), the first of his plays to be performed at the Théâtre Français *' (1905) *' (1906), written with Lucien Descaves

Novels

*' (1890) *' (1891) *' (1910)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capus, Alfred 1858 births 1922 deaths writers from Aix-en-Provence 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers Members of the Académie Française Commanders of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male novelists 19th-century French male writers Le Figaro people