Paul Hervieu (2 September 185725 October 1915) was a French

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 ...

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 ...

Early years

He was born Paul-Ernest Hervieu 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 ...

, France. Hervieu was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family. He studied law, but sought also had contact with writers like

Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas i ...

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

and Alphonse Daudet. After graduating in 1877, he first practiced in a law firm, in 1879 qualified for the diplomatic service, and was posted in the French Embassy in Mexico. But he preferred to remain in France, where he attended fashionable literary salons, and the acquaintance of artists and writers such as

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

, Paul Bourget, Henri Meilhac,

Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French people, French author and playwright, known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on the libretto, libretti for Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and comic operas by Jacques Offenbach, inc ...

, Guy de Maupassant and

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is e ...

. On the recommendation of his friend Octave Mirbeau, he tried his hand as a journalist.

Career

Hervieu was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1877, and, after serving some time in the office of the president of the council, he qualified for the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

, but resigned on his nomination in 1881 to a secretaryship in the French

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. This in turn cites or notes: *

Alfred Binet Alfred Binet (; ; 8 July 1857 – 18 October 1911), born Alfredo Binetti, was a French psychologist who together with Théodore Simon invented the first practical intelligence test, the Binet–Simon test. In 1904, Binet took part in a comm ...

, in '' L'Année psychologique'', vol. x. *Hervieu's ''Théâtre'' was published by Lemerre (3 vols, 1900–1904). He contributed novels, tales and essays to the chief

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 ...

ian papers and reviews, and published a series of clever novels, including '' L'Inconnue'' (1887), ''Flirt'' (1890, illustrated by Madeleine Lemaire), '' L'Exorcisée'' (1891), '' Peints par eux-mêmes'' (1893), an ironic study written in the form of letters, and '' L'Armature'' (1895), dramatized in 1905 by Eugène Brieux. Hervieu's plays are built upon a severely logical method, the mechanism of which is sometimes so evident as to destroy the necessary sense of illusion. The closing words of '' La Course du flambeau'' (1901) "Pour ma fille, j'ai tué ma mère" (For my daughter, I killed my mother), are an example of his selection of a plot representing an extreme theory. The riddle in '' L'Énigme'' (1901) (staged at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the arch ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 1 March 1902, as ''Caesar's Wife'') is, however, worked out with great art, and '' Le Dédale'' (1903), dealing with the obstacles to the remarriage of a divorced woman, is reckoned among the masterpieces of the modern French stage. He produced his last play, ''Le Destin est Maître'', in 1914.

Honours

He was elected to 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 ...

in 1900.

Death

Hervieu died at age 57 in

, France, and was interred in its

Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery () is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), which was closed in 1802. ...

. His lover Claude Ferval who died in 1943 is interred with him.

Bibliography

*'' Les Paroles restent'' (Vaudeville, 17 November 1892) *'' Les Tenailes'' ( Théâtre Français, 28 September 1895) *'' La loi de l’homme'' ( Théâtre Français, 15 February 1897) *'' La Course du flambeau'' (Vaudeville, 17 April 1901) *'' Point de lendemain'' ( Théâtre de l'Odéon, 18 October 1901), a dramatic version of a story by Vivant Denon *'' L'Énigme'' ( Théâtre Français, 5 November 1901) *''

Théroigne de Méricourt Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt (born ''Anne-Josèphe Terwagne''; 13 August 1762 – 8 June 1817) was a Belgian singer, orator and organizer in the French Revolution. She was born at Marcourt, in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (from whi ...

'' ( Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, 23 September 1902) *'' Le Dédale'' ( Théâtre Français, 19 December 1903) *''Le Réveil'' ( Théâtre Français, 18 December 1905)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hervieu, Paul 1857 births 1915 deaths Writers from Neuilly-sur-Seine 19th-century French novelists 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights Members of the Académie Française Burials at Passy Cemetery French male novelists 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers