Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Delavigne, Jean Francois Casimir

DELAVIGNE, JEAN FRANCOIS CASIMIR (de-lä-vēn′), a French poet and dramatist; born in Havre, April 4, 1793. He produced in 1819 his tragedy of “The Sicilian Vespers”; “The Comedians” appeared in 1820, and the tragedy of “The Paria” in 1821. Of his other plays which followed these may be mentioned: “The School of Old Men”; “Marino Faliero”; and the dramas of Louis VI.—founded on Commines' “Memoirs” and “Quentin Durward”—and “Don John of Austria.” His hymns, “The Parisienne” and “The Varsovienne,” and the ballad “The Toilette of Constance,” are among his more popular poetical pieces. He became in 1825 a member of the Academy. He died at Lyons, France, Dec. 11, 1843.