 | ||
Born 22 April 1806 Paris Occupation Playwright
Jounalist
Novelist Died 9 March 1872, Paris, France | ||
Auguste Luchet (22 April 1806 – 9 March 1872) was an 19th-century French playwright, journalist, novelist and writer.
Contents
Biography
The son of a civil servant, Luchet was raised in Dieppe where his parents had moved in 1813. A brilliant student but from a family with no fortune, he was placed aged 13 in an office of the Dieppe court of justice. He then worked by a ship owner and a banker and, in 1823, decided to leave for Paris where he wanted to go into literature. He was then employed by a merchant of the rue Saint-Martin, which completely disgusted him with the trading world, a feeling he expressed later in his autobiographical novel Frère et soeur. He spent some time by a merchant of sheets before getting into journalism.
Unfortunately, he soon found himself homeless and spent two years in misery before finding a stenographer position at the Chamber of Deputies where he met, among others, Alphonse Rabbe, Louis Reybaud and Léon Gozlan who allowed him to enter their political review La Jeune France.
Spotted by Jacques Coste, he became a journalist at Le Temps, then joined the Journal de Paris and took an active part to the July Revolution of 1830, which earned him a five-year exile in Belgium, then in Jersey. A collaborator with Talisman, Le Siècle (1849), the Républicain de Seine-et-Marne (1850) and the magazine La Vigne (1866), his plays were given on the most prestigious Parisian stages of his time including the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, and the Théâtre Beaumarchais.
In addition to some novels, he also wrote books on vine and wine. Luchet was also the governor of the château de Fontainebleau (1848). His novel Le Nom de famille earned him a two-year prison sentence and a 1000 frs fine
"for incitement to hatred and contempt of the government and incitement to class hatred".
His defendant was Jules Favre.
Luchet is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery (49th division). His bronze bust is listed in French patrimony.