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Gresset, Jean Baptiste Louis

(Encyclopedia)Gresset, Jean Baptiste Louis zhäN bätēstˈ lwē grĕsāˈ [key], 1709–77, French poet and dramatist. He was the author of a mock epic, Vairvert (1734), and of a successful comedy, Le Méchant (17...

Chapelain, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Chapelain, Jean zhäN shäplăNˈ [key], 1595–1674, French critic and poet. His works include La Pucelle (1656), an epic poem about Joan of Arc. Chapelain was a founding member of the French Academy...

Lalo, Édouard Victor Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Lalo, Édouard Victor Antoine ādwärˈ vēktôrˈ äNtwänˈ lälōˈ [key], 1823–92, French composer. Lalo's opera, Le Roi d'Ys (1888), Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra (1875), and bal...

Adam, Adolphe Charles

(Encyclopedia)Adam, Adolphe Charles ädōlfˈ shärlˈ ädäNˈ [key], 1803–56, French composer of the popular song Cantique de Noël. He composed more than 50 stage works, including comic operas such as Le Posti...

Rutebeuf

(Encyclopedia)Rutebeuf rütəböfˈ [key], fl. between 1254 and 1285, French poet. He was the author of an early miracle play, Le Miracle de Théophile, and of fabliaux, allegories, saints' lives, and satires. Skil...

Clouzot, Henri-Georges

(Encyclopedia)Clouzot, Henri-Georges äNrēˈ-zhôrzh clo͞ozōˈ [key], 1907–77, French film director, master of the Gallic noir cinema. His career spanned 40 years, but he was plagued by ill health and complete...

Étaix, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Étaix, Pierre, 1928–2016, French film actor and director. He excelled at highly physical slapstick comedy, influenced by his background as a circus and cabaret performer, and by Buster Keaton and C...

Ionesco, Eugène

(Encyclopedia)Ionesco, Eugène özhĕnˈ yŏnĕsˈkō [key], 1912–94, French playwright, b. Romania. Settling in France in 1938, he contributed to Cahiers du Sud and began writing avant-garde plays. His works str...

Edelinck, Gérard

(Encyclopedia)Edelinck, Gérard zhārärˈ ādəlăNkˈ [key], 1640–1707, French engraver, b. Antwerp. He is known for his faithful interpretations of the work of Raphael, Le Brun, Champaigne, and other masters a...

Bartsch, Adam von

(Encyclopedia)Bartsch, Adam von (Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch) äˈdäm fən bärch [key], 1757–1821, Austrian engraver, etcher, and writer. His critical catalog, Le Peintre Graveur (21 vol., 1803–21), is s...