Paul Meurice
Encyclopedia
Paul Meurice was a French novelist and playwright best known for his friendship with Victor Hugo
.
, and soon became a devoted follower. He had literary ambitions and embarked on a career as playwright.
In 1848, Hugo made him the editor-in-chief of a journal he had just founded, called L'Événement. (This resulted in Meurice's imprisonment in 1851, during Hugo's exile.) Their friendship was very deep: the poet was a witness at Meurice's marriage to Palmyre Granger, daughter of the painter Jean-Pierre Granger. During the twenty years of Hugo's exile, Meurice looked after the financial and literary interests of the proscribed writer.
He meanwhile continued his own literary career, publishing novels, some in collaboration with Alexandre Dumas, for whom he would also ghost-write. He adapted Notre-Dame de Paris
, Les Misérables
and Quatre-Vingt-Treize for the stage.
With Vacquerie, and Victor Hugo's son Charles, Meurice founded the journal Le Rappel in 1869. On Hugo's death in 1885, Meurice and Vacquerie were made executors of his estate. In this capacity, Meurice compiled some posthumous collections of Hugo's poems. He established the Maison de Victor Hugo
in Paris in 1902.
Plays written in collaboration
Novels
Correspondence
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
.
Biography
In 1836, aged eighteen, Paul Meurice was introduced to Hugo by his friend Auguste VacquerieAuguste Vacquerie
Auguste Vacquerie was a French journalist and man of letters.-Biography:Vacquerie was born at Villequier on 19 November 1819. He was from his earliest days an admirer of Victor Hugo, with whom he was connected by the marriage of his brother Charles with Léopoldine Hugo...
, and soon became a devoted follower. He had literary ambitions and embarked on a career as playwright.
In 1848, Hugo made him the editor-in-chief of a journal he had just founded, called L'Événement. (This resulted in Meurice's imprisonment in 1851, during Hugo's exile.) Their friendship was very deep: the poet was a witness at Meurice's marriage to Palmyre Granger, daughter of the painter Jean-Pierre Granger. During the twenty years of Hugo's exile, Meurice looked after the financial and literary interests of the proscribed writer.
He meanwhile continued his own literary career, publishing novels, some in collaboration with Alexandre Dumas, for whom he would also ghost-write. He adapted Notre-Dame de Paris
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:...
, Les Misérables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
and Quatre-Vingt-Treize for the stage.
With Vacquerie, and Victor Hugo's son Charles, Meurice founded the journal Le Rappel in 1869. On Hugo's death in 1885, Meurice and Vacquerie were made executors of his estate. In this capacity, Meurice compiled some posthumous collections of Hugo's poems. He established the Maison de Victor Hugo
Maison de Victor Hugo
Maison de Victor Hugo is a museum, operated by the City of Paris, which preserves the house that Victor Hugo lived in for 16 years from 1832–1848.-History:...
in Paris in 1902.
Works
- Benvenuto Cellini, play in 5 acts and 8 scenes, music by Adolphe de Groot, Paris, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-MartinThéâtre de la Porte Saint-MartinThe Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10e arrondissement of Paris.- History :...
, 1 April 1852 - Schamyl, play in 5 acts and 9 scenes, music by Gondois, Paris, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, 26 June 1854
- Paris, play in 5 acts, 26 scenes, prologue and epilogue, Paris, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, 21 July 1855
- L'Avocat des pauvres, play in 5 acts, Paris, Théâtre de la Gaîté (boulevard du Temple), 15 October 1856
- Fanfan la Tulipe, play in 7 acts, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-ComiqueThéâtre de l'Ambigu-ComiqueThe theatre was rebuilt to plans by the architects Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Jean-François-Joseph Lecointe on the boulevard Saint-Martin, at the corner of rue de Bondy...
, 6 November 1858 - Le Maître d'école, play in 5 acts, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, 10 March 1859
- Le Roi de Bohème et ses sept châteaux, play in 6 acts, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-comique, 22 October 1859
- François les Bas-Bleus, play in 5 acts and 7 scenes, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, 31 January 1863
- Les Deux Diane, play in 5 acts and 8 scenes, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-comique, 8 March 1865
- La Vie nouvelle, comedy in 4 acts, with prologue, Paris, Théâtre de l'Odéon, 8 April 1867
- La Brésilienne, play in 6 acts with prologue, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, 9 April 1878
- Quatre-vingt-treize, play based on the novel by Victor Hugo, by Paul Meurice, Paris, Théâtre de la Gaîté (rue Papin)Théâtre de la Gaîté (rue Papin)In 1862 during Haussmann's modernization of Paris the Théâtre de la Gaîté of the boulevard du Temple was relocated to the rue Papin across from the Square des Arts et Métiers....
, 24 December 1881 - Le Songe d'une nuit d'été, fairy-tale after Shakespeare (1886)
- Struensée, drama, Paris, Comédie-FrançaiseComédie-FrançaiseThe Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....
, 5 November 1898
Plays written in collaboration
- With Auguste VacquerieAuguste VacquerieAuguste Vacquerie was a French journalist and man of letters.-Biography:Vacquerie was born at Villequier on 19 November 1819. He was from his earliest days an admirer of Victor Hugo, with whom he was connected by the marriage of his brother Charles with Léopoldine Hugo...
: Paroles, comedy based on Shakespeare, Paris, Second Théâtre-Français, 28 February 1843 - With Auguste Vacquerie : Antigone, tragedy after SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
, Paris, Second Théâtre-Français, 21 May 1844 - With Alexandre Dumas : Hamlet, prince de Danemark, play in verse in 5 acts and 8 scenes, after Shakespeare, Paris, Théâtre historique, 15 December 1847
- With George SandGeorge SandAmantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
: Les Beaux messieurs de Bois-Doré, play in 5 acts, 1862 - With George Sand : Le Drac, drame fantastique in 3 acts, 1865
- With George Sand : Cadio, play in 5 acts and 8 scenes, 1868
- Revision of work by Paul FoucherPaul FoucherPaul-Henri Foucher was a French playwright, theatre and music critic, political journalist, and novelist.-Early career:...
: Notre-Dame de Paris, play in 5 acts and 12 scenes, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, 1886 - With Charles Hugo : Les Misérables, drama, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, Paris, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, 27 December 1899
Novels
- La Famille Aubry (3 volumes, 1854)
- Louspillac et Beautrubin (1854)
- Scènes du foyer. La Famille Aubry (1856)
- Les Tyrans de village (1857)
- Les Chevaliers de l'esprit. Césara (1869)
- Le Songe de l'amour (1889)
Correspondence
- Correspondance entre Victor Hugo et Paul Meurice, preface by Jules Claretie (1909)