Eugène Brieux became the best known of the remarkable generation of French playwrights introduced by André Antoine at his experimental Théâtre-Libre in Paris, and Brieux's work typifies certain central concerns and techniques of that theater. In a striking and, for many, shockingly realistic style, he portrayed current social problems that he believed demanded attention and reform. Given these concerns, it is not surprising that he attracted the warm support of Bernard Shaw, one of his most enthusiastic champions, who considered Brieux the greatest French writer since Molière. Brieux's reputation has not stood the test of time well, but his major works are still occasionally revived, and he is still remembered as the leading creator in France of the engaged social drama that marked a new direction in theater at the end of the nineteenth century.

Brieux was born on 19 January...