Alfred Capus

Alfred Capus ( born November 25, 1858 in Aix -en- Provence, † November 1, 1922 in Neuilly -sur -Seine; pseudonyms: Canalis and Graindorge ) was a French journalist, novelist and playwright. As an employee of the newspaper Le Figaro, he also published under the pseudonyms Canalis and Graindorge.

Life

The son of a lawyer, grew up to the age of 14 in Toulon, then in Paris. He studied at a mining school, where he acquired but no diploma. After a stint as an industrial designer, he decided to try his hand as a journalist. With the support of his friends Paul Hervieu and Marcel Prévost he began in 1882 with the newspaper Le Clairon, for which he wrote the first article as a tribute to Charles Darwin. In 1883 he worked with, among others, with Hervieu at Octave Mirbeaus short-lived satirical magazine Les Grimaces. 1884 Capus began at Gaulois and made in the following years with short dialogues, scenes of everyday life and political satires for L' Echo de Paris and L' Illustration a name. In 1894 he joined the staff of Figaro and 1914 chief editor.

Capus was president of the Association of Sociétés of autuers dramatiques and Knight of the Legion of Honour. He was admitted to the Académie française on 12 February 1914.

Literary work

By 1878 he had published together with L. Venoven a volume of short stories, and in 1879 the two one-act plays in the theater Cluny had been performed. 1890-1895 Capus published three novels devoted to the fortunes of young men at the beginning of her career as a journalist, playwright or engineer. After the great audience success of his novels Capus processed the substance of the first novel and his first comedy Brignol et sa fille (1894 ). His biggest success on the stage, he celebrated in 1901 with La Veine that finally established him as a leading French comedy writer. His more serious pieces, in which he tried in later years, however, were far less popular.

Reception in Germany

The dramas Alfred Capus ' were also played in the German language area. Thus, Happiness (La Veine ) in 1901 and The Lady of the House in 1903 at the German National Theatre, The Bank Manager (La Bourse ou la vie) in 1903 listed at the theater in the Joseph City. The happiness and also the piece of the game the tenant ( Monsieur Piégois ) had been here translated by Theodor Wolff. Heinrich Mann, who at the beginning of the 20th century based on the French literature and its frivolity and astute analyzes estimated at Capus, translated 1901 Capus ' novel who laughs last ( Qui perd gagne ).

The boulevard comedy in the style of Capus ' found in the review but only limited consent. Hermann Bahr complained in 1903: "After the théâtre rosse the théâtre rose - this is the new formula. ... [ O] ne simply revolves around the theater of the last ten years and the school Antoine is the school Capus. Was there one cruel and crude, so it is now tolerant and gentle. There you have searched the écriture artiste, now they prefer the gentle sound of the Causeurs. At that time, the main thing que ça was summarize peur au bourgeois, now it is back to put the Bourgeois a mood in which he digested pleasant. Le parti pris pessimiste it was then inhabited the world of villains and cretins, pessimism, the last was so banal that it could call Lemaître une Sagesse de commis voyaguer; now it's le parti pris optimiste, all people are suddenly nice and everything is always good. "

The critic Alfred Kerr ruled 1917: " Tired urbanites. Compatible egoists. Bankruptcy before the battle of life. This is the core of Alfred Capus. Capus ... is a friend of truth unnerved a technically clumsy friend of truth; but after all, a true friend. He has, one might say, the will to Germanischer: without the force of a unused race. A poor, smiling, plucked latecomer who is sincere, - and whose blood has become thin " Kerr's judgment may be read in the context of the First World War, in which Capus distinguished himself as editor in chief of Le Figaro with patriotic items.. Heinrich Mann criticized Capus ' new patriotism in April 1914 in his essay The farmer in Tourraine: " And of course the violence of his faith in the right proportion to the depth of his former unbelief; and of course he is such a great patriot, because he was such a great long Boulevardier. "

Robert Wiene filmed in 1928 Capus ' play Les Maris de Leontine Leontine titled husbands.

Works

Pieces

  • Innocent (1896 ) by Alphonse Allais
  • Petites folles (1897 )
  • Rosine (1897 )
  • Mariage Bourgeois (1898 )
  • Les Maris de Leontine (1900)
  • La Bourse ou la vie (1900)
  • La Veine (1901 )
  • La Petite Fonctionnaire (1901 )
  • Les Deux Ecoles (1902 )
  • La Châtelaine (1902 )
  • L' adversaire (1903 ) with Emmanuel Arene
  • Notre Jeunesse (1904 )
  • Monsieur Piegois (1905 )
  • L' assassination (1906 ) with Lucien Descaves

Novels

  • Qui perd gagne (1890)
  • Faux départ (1891 )
  • Années d' aventures (1895 )
  • Robinson ( 1910)

Translations into German

  • He who laughs last ... novel. Only authorized translation from the French by Heinrich Mann. Munich 1901.
  • Brignol and his daughter. Comedy in 3 acts Ins German speak. by Franz Maria La Violette. Berlin [ et al ] 1902.
  • The lady of the castle. Drama in 4 acts. German by Theodor Wolff. Berlin 1903.
  • The opponents. Drama in 4 acts. German by Theodor Wolff. Berlin 1904.
  • The game tenant. Comedy in 3 acts. German by Theodor Wolff. Berlin 1906.
Aix-en-Provence Neuilly-sur-Seine Volkstheater, Vienna Integrated Authority File
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