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Ludovic Vitet

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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LUDOVIC VITET (1802-1873), French dramatist and politician, was born in Paris on the 18th of October 1802. He was educated at the Ecole Normale. His politics were liberal, and he was a member of the society "Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera." On the triumph of liberal principles in 1830 Guizot created an office especially for Vitet, who became inspector-general of historical monuments. In 1834 he entered the Chamber of Deputies, and two years later was made a member of the Council of State. He was consistent in his monarchist principles, and abstained from taking any part in politics during the second empire. The disasters of 1870-71 reawakened Vitet's interest in public affairs, and he published in the Revue des deux mondes his optimistic "Lettres sur le siege de Paris." He died in 1873.

Vitet was the author of some valuable works on the history of art, and his Monographie de l'Eglise Notre Dame de Noyon (1845) especially did much to awaken popular interest in architecture. In the early days of the Romantic movement he wrote some vivid dramatic sketches of the time of the League. They are: Les Barricades, scenes historiques (1826), Les Etats de Blois, scenes (1827), and La Mort de Henri III. (1829), all three being published tpgether in 1844 with the title of La Ligue. The best of these is the Etats de Blois, in which the murder of the duke of Guise is described in the most convincing manner.