ULBACH, LOUIS (1822–1889), French writer, was born at Troyes (Aube) on the 7th of March 1822. He was encouraged to take up a literary career by Victor Hugo. He became dramatic critic of the Temps, and attracted attention by a series of satirical letters addressed to the Figaro over the signature of “Ferragus,” and published separately in 1868. He edited the Revue de Paris until its suppression in 1858, and in 1868 he founded a paper, La Cloche, which was suppressed in 1869 for its hostility to the empire. Ulbach was imprisoned for six months, and when on his release he revived the paper he got into trouble both with the commune and the government, and was again imprisoned in 1871–1872. In 1878 he was made librarian of the arsenal, and died in Paris on the 16th of April 1889.
Among his works are: Voyage autour de mon clocher (1864), Nos contemporains (1869–1871), Aventures de trois grandes dames de la cour de Vienne (3 vols., 1876); Les Buveurs de poisons: la fée verte (1879), La Vie de Victor Hugo (1886), &c.