AICARD, JEAN-FRANÇOIS-VICTOR. - French poet and dramatist, b. at Toulon in 1848, d. at Paris in 1921. He interrupted his studies of law in order to devote himself entirely to letters. His earliest and greatest successes were poetic works, which attracted public attention and some of which were also awarded prizes by the Académie de France.
Worthy of mention are: Jennes croyances (1867); Rébellions et apaisements (1871); Poèmes de Provence (1874); La Chanson de l'enfant (1875); Miette et Noré (1880), a most charming idyll, which enjoyed great success; Dieu dans l'homme (1883); Maternité (1893); Jésus (1896). In the dramatic genre he published: Au clair de la lune (1870); Pygmalion (1872); Mascarille (1873); Othello, a free adaptation from Shakespeare (1882); Le Père Labonnard (1889). A. also wrote various short stories and novels, including: Don Juan (1889); Le roi de Camargue (1891); Diamant noir (1893); and two prose books: La Vénus de Milo (1874) and Visite en Hollande (1879).