DUCANGE

ducange, victor henri joseph brahain (1783-1833), french novelist and dramatist, was born on the 24th of november 1783 at the hague, where his father was secretary to the french embassy. dismissed from the civil service at the restoration, victor ducange became one of the favourite authors of the liberal party, and owed some part of his popularity to the fact that he was fined and imprisoned more than once for his outspokenness. he was six months in prison for an article in his journal _le diable rose, ou le petit courrier de lucifer_ (1822); for _valentine_ (1821), in which the royalist excesses in the south of france were pilloried, he was again imprisoned; and after the publication of _helene ou l'amour et la guerre_ (1823), he took refuge for some time in belgium. ducange wrote numerous plays and melodramas, among which the most successful were _marco loricot, ou le petit chouan de 1830_ (1836), and _trente ans, ou la vie d'un joueur_ (1827), in which frederick lemaitre found one of his best parts. many of his books were prohibited, ostensibly for their coarseness, but perhaps rather for their political tendencies. he died in paris on the 15th of october 1833.