1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vacquerie, Auguste

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6233991911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 27 — Vacquerie, Auguste

VACQUERIE, AUGUSTE (1819-1895), French journalist and man of letters, was born at Villequier (Seine Inférieure) on the 19th of November 1819. He was from his earliest days an admirer of Victor Hugo, with whom he was connected by the marriage of his brother Charles with Leopoldine Hugo. His earlier romantic productions include a volume of poems, L'Enfer de l'esprit (1840); a translation of the Antigone (1844) in collaboration with Paul Meurice; and Tragaldabas (1848), a melodrama. He was one of the principal contributors to the Événement and followed Hugo into his exile in Jersey. In 1869 he returned to Paris, and with Paul Meurice and others founded the anti-imperial Rappel. His articles in this paper were more than once the occasion of legal proceedings. After 1870 he became editor. Other of his works are Souvent homme varie (1859), a comedy in verse; Jean Baudry (1863), the most successful of his plays; Aujourd'hui et demain (1875); Futura (1900), poems on philosophical and humanitarian subjects. Vacquerie died in Paris on the 19th of February 1895. He published a collected edition of his plays in 1879.