Ludovic Halevy was born in Paris, January 1, 1834.
His father was Leon Halevy, the celebrated author;
his grandfather, Fromenthal, the eminent composer.
Ludovic was destined for the civil service, and, after
finishing his studies, entered successively the Department
of State (1852); the Algerian Department (1858), and
later on became editorial secretary of the Corps Legislatif
(1860). When his patron, the Duc de Morny, died
in 1865, Halevy resigned, giving up a lucrative position
for the uncertain profession of a playwright:
At this period he devoted himself exclusively to the
theatre.
He had already written plays as early as 1856, and
had also tried his hand at fiction, but did not meet
with very great success. Toward 1860, however,
he became acquainted with Henri Meilhac, and with him
formed a kind of literary union, lasting for almost
twenty years, when Halevy rather abruptly abandoned
the theatre and became a writer of fiction.
We have seen such kinds of co-partnerships, for instance,
in Beaumont and Fletcher; more recently in the beautiful
French tales of Erckmann-Chatrian, and still later
in the English novels of Besant and Rice.
Some say it was a fortunate event for Meilhac; others
assert that Halevy reaped a great profit by the union.
Be this as it may, a great number of plays-drama,
comedy, farce, opera, operetta and ballet—were
jointly produced, as is shown by the title-pages of
two score or more of their pieces. When Ludovic
Halevy was a candidate for L’Academie—he
entered that glorious body in 1884—the
question was ventilated by Pailleron: “What
was the author’s literary relation in his union
with Meilhac?” It was answered by M. Sarcey,
who criticised the character and quality of the work
achieved. Public opinion has a long time since
brought in quite another verdict in the case.
Halevy’s cooperation endowed the plays of Meilhac
with a fuller ethical richness—tempered
them, so to speak, and made them real, for it can not
be denied that Meilhac was inclined to extravagance.
Halevy’s novels are remarkable for the elegance
of literary style, tenderness of spirit and keenness
of observation. He excels in ironical sketches.
He has often been compared to Eugene Sue, but his touch
is lighter than Sue’s, and his humor less unctuous.
Most of his little sketches, originally written for
La Vie Parisienne, were collected in his ‘Monsieur
et Madame Cardinal’ (1873); and ‘Les Petites
Cardinal’, (1880). They are not intended
‘virginibus puerisque’, and the author’s
attitude is that of a half-pitying, half-contemptuous
moralist, yet the virility of his criticism has brought
him immortality.
