Jean Jules Jusserand & Eugène Brieux 1914

Eugène Brieux (; 19 January 18586 December 1932), French

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, was born in Paris of poor parents.

Biography

Works

A one-act play, ''Bernard Palissy'', written in collaboration with M. Gaston Salandri, was produced in 1879, but he had to wait eleven years before he obtained another hearing, his ''Ménage d'artistes'' being produced by

André Antoine André Antoine (31 January 185823 October 1943) was a French actor, theatre manager, film director, author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France. Biography André Antoine was a clerk at the Paris Gas Utili ...

at the Théâtre Libre in 1890. His plays are essentially didactic, being aimed at some weakness or iniquity of the social system. ''Blanchette'' (1892) pointed out the civic results of education of girls of the working classes; ''Monsieur de Réboval'' (1892) was directed against

pharisaism The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temp ...

; ''L'Engrenage'' (1894) against corruption in politics; ''Les Bienfaiteurs'' (1896) against the frivolity of fashionable charity; and ''L'Évasion'' (1896) satirized an indiscriminate belief in the doctrine of

heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic info ...

. ''Les trois filles de M. Dupont '' (1897) is a powerful, somewhat brutal, study of the miseries imposed on poor middle-class girls by the French system of

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

; ''Le Résultat des courses'' (1898) shows the evil results of betting among the Parisian workmen; ''La Robe rouge'' (1900) was directed against the injustices of the law; ''Les Remplaçantes'' (1901) against the practice of putting children out to nurse. ''Les Avariés'' (1901), ''Damaged Lives'' in English, was banned by the censor, due to its medical details of syphilis, was read privately by the author at the Théâtre Antoine. It tells how a young lawyer infected with syphilis declines his physician's advice to take a long course of mercurial treatment and postpone his marriage. It was dedicated to

Jean Alfred Fournier Jean Alfred Fournier () (21 May 1832 – 25 December 1914) was a French dermatologist who specialized in the study of venereal disease. Biography As a young man he served as an interne at the Hôpital du Midi as an understudy to Philippe Rico ...

, Europe's foremost expert on syphilis. ''Petite amie'' (1902) describes the life of a Parisian shop-girl. Later plays are ''La Couvée'' (1903, acted privately at Rouen in 1893), ''Maternité'' (1904), ''La Déserteuse'' (1904), in collaboration with M.

Jean Sigaux Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

, and ''Les Hannetons'', a comedy in three acts (1906). Brieux wrote four more plays in the ensuing decade. The first was ''La Foi, for which

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Second Piano Concerto ...

wrote

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead ...

in 1909. It was presented in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino i ...

on 10 April, and at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, on 20 September. This was followed by ''La Femme Seule'' (1913), ''Le Bourgeois aux champs'' (1914), and ''Les Américains chez nous'' (1920). He also wrote some travelogues: ''Voyages aux Indes et à Indo-Chine'' (1910) and ''Au Japon par Java, la Chine, la Corée'' (1914). He also wrote wartime pamphlets, paying special attention to the care of those blinded by their wounds. Eugène Brieux died in 1932 and was interred in the

Cimetière du Grand Jas The Cimetière du Grand Jas (Grand Jas Cemetery) is located at 205 avenue de Grasse in Cannes on the French Riviera. The nine hectare terraced cemetery began operations in 1866 and is known for its landscaped architecture with rich floral decora ...

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

on the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation "Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

Filmography

*'' Damaged Goods'', directed by

Tom Ricketts Thomas B. Ricketts (15 January 1853 – 19 January 1939) was an English-born American stage and film actor and director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the first American film adaptation of '' A Chr ...

(1914, based on the play ''Les Avariés'') *''Die Geißel der Menschheit'', directed by

Luise Kolm Luise Fleck, also known as Luise Kolm or Luise Kolm-Fleck, née Louise or Luise Veltée (1 August 1873–15 March 1950), was an Austrian film director, and has been considered the second ever female feature film director in the world, after A ...

and

Jacob Fleck Jacob Fleck (8 November 1881 in Vienna as Jacob Julius Fleck – 19 September 1953, also in Vienna) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, film producer and cameraman. He is noted for his long-standing professional partnership with his wife ...

(1918, based on the play ''Les Avariés'') *''

Simone Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * ''Simone'' (1926 fi ...

'', directed by

Camille de Morlhon Camille de Morlhon (19 February 1869 - 24 November 1952) was a French film director. Filmography * 1908 : ' * 1908 : ' * 1908 : ' * 1908 : ' * 1908 : ' * 1908 : ' * 1908 : ''Benvenuto Cellini'' * 1908 : ' * 1908 : ' * 1909 : ' * 1909 : ' * ...

(1918, based on the play ''Simone'') *''A Métely'', directed by Mihály Fekete (1918, based on the play ''Les Avariés'') *'' Damaged Goods'', directed by

Alexander Butler Alexander Butler was a British film director who made over sixty features and short films during the 1910s and 1920s including many for G. B. Samuelson's production company. Butler directed several British films in Hollywood in 1920, where Samue ...

(1919, based on the play ''Les Avariés'') *', directed by

René Hervil René Hervil (1881–1960) was a French actor, screenwriter and film director.Goble p.322 Most of his films were made during the silent era. He directed the ''Maud'' series of films between 1912 and 1915 starring the Anglo-French actress Aimée C ...

(1921, based on the play ''Blanchette'') *'' The Cradle'', directed by Paul Powell (1922, based on the play ''Le Berceau'') *''L'Avocat'', directed by

Gaston Ravel Gaston Ravel (1878–1958) was a French screenwriter and film director. He made over sixty films, mostly during the silent era. In 1929 he co-directed the historical film ''The Queen's Necklace''.Klossner p.77 Selected filmography * '' The Knot'' ...

(1925, based on the play ''L'Avocat'') *''

'', directed by

Émile-Bernard Donatien Émile-Bernard Donatien (1887–1955) was a French actor, writer, set designer and film director. Born Emile Wessbecher to Alsatian parents in Paris, he was often credited simply as Donatien. He retired from cinema in 1932, devoting himself to sc ...

(1926, based on the play ''Simone'') *''

Damaged Lives ''Damaged Lives'' is a 1933 Canadian/American pre-Code exploitation film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The screenplay is based on the French play ''Les Avariés'' (1901) by Eugène Brieux.Bogdanovich, Peter (1997) (New York: Knopf) The film ...

'', directed by Edgar G. Ulmer (1933, based on the play ''Les Avariés'') *'' The Red Robe'', directed by

Jean de Marguenat Jean de Marguenat (2 May 1893 – 16 April 1956) was a French screenwriter and film director. He directed nineteen films including the 1937 British musical ''The Street Singer'' (1937).De Lafayette p.270 Selected filmography * '' Miche'' (1932) * ...

(1933, based on the play ''La Robe rouge'') *', directed by Pierre Caron (1937, based on the play ''Blanchette'') *''Damaged Goods'', directed by Phil Goldstone (1937, based on the play ''Les Avariés'') *', directed by

Robert Péguy Robert Péguy (14 December 1883 – 21 July 1968) was a French film director best known for his films of the 1920s and 1930s. He directed some 30 films between 1910 and 1946. His career peaked in the 1930s. Selected filmography * '' 600,00 ...

(1943, based on the play ''L'Avocat'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brieux Writers from Paris 1858 births 1932 deaths 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights Burials at the Cimetière du Grand Jas Members of the Académie Française 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights