[Gutenberg 3927] • Prince Zilah — Volume 1

Jules Arsene Arnaud Claretie (1840-1913), was a French literary figure and director of the Theatre Francais. After studying at the lycee Bonaparte in Paris, he became a journalist, achieving great success as dramatic critic to Le Figaro and to the Opinion nationale. He was a newspaper correspondent during the Franco-German War, and during the Commune acted as staff-officer in the National Guard. In 1885 he became director of the Theatre Francais, and from that time devoted his time chiefly to its administration until his death. Claretie also wrote three operas for the music of Jules Massenet; La Navarraise (1894), based on his novel La Cigarette and written with Henri Cain, Therese (1907), and Amadis (1922), a work begun by Massenet in 1895, but shelved and finished in the last years of his life and premiered posthumously. Other works include Prince Zilah (1884), Cinq Ans Apres: l'Alsace et la Lorraine Depuis l'Annexion (1876), and Moliere, Sa Vie et Son OEuvre (1871).