HOUSSAYE

houssaye, arsene (1815-1896), french novelist, poet and man of letters, was born at bruyeres (aisne), near laon, on the 28th of march 1815. his real surname was housset. in 1832 he found his way to paris, and in 1836 he published two novels, _la couronne de bluets_ and _la pecheresse_. he had many friends in paris, among them jules janin and theophile gautier, and he wrote in collaboration with jules sandeau. he produced art criticism in _l'histoire de la peinture flamande et hollandaise_ (1846); semi-historical sketches in _mlle de la valliere et mme de montespan_ (1860) and _galerie de portraits du xvii^e siecle_ (1844); literary criticism in _le roi voltaire_ (1858) and his famous satirical _histoire du quarante et unieme fauteuil de l'academie francaise_ (1855); drama in his _comediennes_ (1857); poetry in his _symphonie des vingt ans_ (1867), _cent et un sonnets_ (1873), &c.; and novels, _les filles d'eve_ (1852) and many others. in 1849, through the influence of rachel, he was entrusted with the administration of the theatre francais, a position he filled with unfailing tact and success until 1859, when he was made inspector-general of works of art. he died on the 26th of february 1896. his _confessions, souvenir; d'un demi-siecle_ appeared in 1885-1891. see also j. lemaitre, _arsene houssaye_ (1897), with a bibliography. his son, henry houssaye (1848- ), the historian, was born in paris. his early writings were devoted to classical antiquity, studied not only in books but on the actual greek sites which he visited in 1868. he published successively _histoire d'apelles_ (1867), a study on greek art; _l'armee dans la grece antique_ (1867); _histoire d'alcibiade et de la republique athenienne depuis la mort de pericles jusqu'a l'avenement des trente tyrans_ (1873); papers on _le nombre des citoyens d'athenes au v^eme siecle avant l'ere chretienne_ (1882); _la loi agraire a sparte_ (1884); _le premier siege de paris en 52 av. j.-c._ (1876); and two volumes of miscellanies, _athenes, rome, paris, l'histoire et les moeurs_ (1879), and _aspasie, cleopatre, theodora_ (6th ed. 1889). the military history of napoleon i. then attracted him. his first volume on this subject, called _1814_ (1888), went through no fewer than forty-six editions. it was followed by _1815_, the first part of which comprises the first restoration, the return from elba and the hundred days (1893); the second part, waterloo (1899); and the third part, the second abdication and the white terror (1905). he was elected a member of the french academy in 1895.