Henry Céard (19 November 1851 – 16 August 1924) was a French novelist, poet, playwright and literary critic. A writer in the school of naturalism, he was a close friend of

Emile Zola Emile or Émile may refer to: * Émile (novel) (1827), autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life * Emile, Canadian film made in 2003 by Carl Bessai * '' Emile: or, On Education'' (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a treatise o ...

before the Dreyfus affair caused them to drift apart. Céard was born in

Bercy Bercy () is a neighbourhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France, the city's 47th administrative neighbourhood. History Some of the oldest vestiges of human occupation in Paris were found on the territory of Bercy, dating from the late N ...

in a middle-class family. He was educated in both science and humanities. He worked in the government was for a while in the ministry of war. He then worked in the cabinet and as a deputy director of the library of Paris at Hotel Carnavalet. He was keenly interested in literature and joined a group of writers including Emile Zola and

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...

. He took an interest in the social realities of the period of rapid industrialization and urbanization and wrote a few novels and collections of short pieces including ''Soirées de Médan'' and ''La Saignée''. He took an interest in the problems of the working class and on poverty and social inequalities. In 1918 he was elected to the Académie Goncourt. During his lifetime he was not given much attention but after his death his works, including unpublished manuscripts, gained fresh attention. Céard died at his home on rue Chasseloup-Laubat in Paris and was buried in Bercy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceard, Henry 1851 births 1924 deaths French writers