LAVEDAN

lavedan, henri leon emile (1859- ), french dramatist and man of letters, was born at orleans, the son of hubert leon lavedan, a well-known catholic and liberal journalist. he contributed to various parisian papers a series of witty tales and dialogues of parisian life, many of which were collected in volume form. in 1891 he produced at the theatre francais _une famille_, followed at the vaudeville in 1894 by _le prince d'aurec_, a satire on the nobility, afterwards re-named _les descendants_. later brilliant and witty pieces were _les deux noblesses_ (1897), _catherine_ (1897), _le nouveau jeu_ (1898), _le vieux marcheur_ (1899), _le marquis de priola_ (1902), and _varennes_ (1904), written in collaboration with g. lenotre. he had a great success with _le duel_ (comedie francaise, 1905), a powerful psychological study of the relations of two brothers. lavedan was admitted to the french academy in 1898.