Albéric Second
| Albéric Second | |
|---|---|
Photograph by Disdéri in 1860
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| Born |
Pierre Albéric Second 17 June 1817 Angoulême (Charente) |
| Died | 2 June 1887 (aged 69) 9th arrondissement of Paris |
| Occupation | Journalist, novelist and playwright |
| Years active | 1836-1885 |
Pierre Albéric Second, (17 June 1817 - 2 June 1887 ) was a 19th-century French journalist, novelist and playwright.
The son of a magistrate, Second felt no taste for law and began a literary career. He was successively assistant at Le Charivari, director of l'Entr'acte, co-founder of la Comédie parisienne, editor at Le Figaro, founder of Le Grand Journal with Hippolyte de Villemessant, and columnist at l'Événement before he took over the management of l’Entr’acte in 1870.
During a short period between 1848 and 1850, Second was sub-prefect of the Basses-Alpes department at Castellane. Awarded the Legion of honour in 1859, he was Imperial commissioner of the Théâtre de l'Odéon from 1865 to 1870. In 1869, Second was commissioned to write the words of the cantata sung at the Opera in honor of the centenary of Napoleon, which is remarkable only for its flat mediocrity.
Gifted with a light spirit, a fun and easy skill, Second was especially appreciated for his columns. During the Revolution of 1848, he composed a cantata in which each stanza ended with these lines:
Au dernier roi nous avons dit adieu (To the last king we said goodbye)
La France est le soldat de Dieu (France is God's soldier !)
Charles Monselet wrote this portrait of him:
One journalist called him the Dumas of information. That's it. As much apparent ease, as much spirit met by the author of the Musketeers. There was only a revolution that could make him a sub-prefect, and this revolution occurred. One weakness of Mr. Alberic Second is to believe, because he was from Angouleme, he posed for Lucien de Rubempré of the Illusions perdues and Un grand homme de province à Paris .
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