Louis-Xavier Eyma (16 October 1816 – 20 March 1876) was a 19th-century French journalist and writer, author, among others, of novels, travel books and theater plays.

Biography

Born in Martinique, an illegitimate son of Louis, a French lawyer who had long worked in New Orleans and Victorine Eyma, Xavier Eyma studied in France and joined the Navy administration in Paris in 1836. He began to write in the Parisian press and in 1840 obtained a first success with his novel ''Le Médaillon''. Charged with a mission to West Indies in order to study education there (1845), he also traveled to the United States (1846) as French correspondent of the newspaper '' La Chronique '', which inspired him several travel stories. An editor at the ''Journal des actionnaires'' when he was back in France, he returned in 1858 to New-Orleans where his father lived, and worked there as director of the French section of ''L'Abeille'' (1858–1859). Among several American personalities, he engaged into a friendship with Washington Irving and visited the plains of Ohio, Mammoth Cave, Leavenworth and Philadelphia. In New Orleans, he attended the arrival of the rest of the tribe of Seminole on their way to deportation in Arkansas. Although an admirer of the United States, Eyma condemned slavery and the massacre of Indians in his writings. He then visited Cuba and after he returned to France in 1861, he worked for many newspapers including '' Le Figaro'' and '' La Liberté''. His plays were presented on the most important Parisian stages of the 19th century including

Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles. Af ...

, Théâtre des Variétés, and Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin. Director of ''Nouvelliste de Paris'' (1874–1876), he also translated American authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson (''Les lois de la vie'' 1864, ''

The Conduct of Life ''The Conduct of Life'' is a collection of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson published in 1860 and revised in 1876. In this volume, Emerson sets out to answer "the question of the times:" "How shall I live?" It is composed of nine essays, each preced ...

'') and Washington Irving (''Histoire de la conquête de Grenade'' 1865, ''Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada'').

Works

*1840: ''Écrivains et artistes vivants, français et étrangers, biographies'', 3 vols. *1840: ''Le Médaillon'', novel *1841: ''Emmanuel'', poems *1842 ''Introduction à une politique générale'' *1842: ''L'Abandon !'', song *1849: ''Album de 10 mélodies pour voix et piano'', with Charles Delange and

Francis Tourte Louis François, better known as Francis Tourte, (8 June 1816 – 5 October 1891) was a 19th-century French composer, poet, chansonnier and playwright. He was François Tourte's grandson. He wrote lyrics for more than 500 songs and melodies, wh ...

*1849: ''Le Croiseur'', sea song *1849: ''Dolorita'', chanson catalane *1850: ''Capitaine... de quoi ?'', one-act comédie en vaudeville, with

Amédée de Jallais Amédée de Jallais (17 December 1826 – 31 January 1909) was a 19th-century French playwright, operetta librettist and chansonnier. Biography The son of a lieutenant colonel in the guards, he studied at the College Bourbon then entered in ...

*1851: ''Le Renard et les raisins'', comédie en vaudeville en 1 acte, with de Jallais *1852: ''Les cent écus de Claude'', feuilleton *1853: ''Les Deux Amériques, histoire, mœurs et voyages'', report *1853: ''Le Mariage au bâton'', one-act comédie en vaudeville, with Déaddé Saint-Yves *1853: ''Les Femmes du nouveau monde'' *1854: ''Les Peaux-Rouges, scènes de la vie des Indiens'', report *1857: ''Les Peaux-Noires, scènes de la vie des esclaves'', report *1860: ''Le Roi des Tropiques'' *1860: ''Le Trône d'argent'' *1861: ''Aventuriers et corsaires'', Michel Lévy *1861: ''Le Canal maritime du Darien, état de la question'' *1861: ''La République américaine, ses institutions, ses hommes'' *1862: ''Le roman de Flavio (Naples en 1798)'', novel, Michel Lévy *1862: ''Scènes de mœurs et de voyages dans le Nouveau-Monde'' *1862: ''La vie dans le Nouveau-Monde'', récit, Poulet-Malassis *1862: ''Les Trente-quatre étoiles de l'Union américaine'' *1863: ''Légendes, fantômes et récits du Nouveau-Monde'', 2 vols. *1863: ''Les Poches de mon parrain'', roman, 2 vols. *1864: ''De la Circulation libre des coupons à revenu fixe'' *1865: ''Nice et les Alpes-Maritimes, sites pittoresques, monuments, description et histoire des arrondissements de Nice, de Puget-Théniers et de Grasse composant ce nouveau département, texte descriptif et historique'', with Joseph Dessaix *1866: ''La Chasse à l'esclave'', novel *1867: ''La Mansarde de Rose'', followed by ''Thérèse Lorrain'', novel, A. Faure *1868: ''Tobine'', bolero *1874: ''20 Mélodies, piano et chant'', with

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

*1874: ''Les Gamineries de Mme Rivière'' *1876: ''La Vie aux États-Unis, notes de voyage'', Plon *1877: ''Les amoureux de la demoiselle'', novel, Dentu *undated: ''Les Deux manoirs'' *undated: ''Excentricités américaines'' *undated: ''Le Grand cordon et la corde'' *undated: ''Mademoiselle Topaze'' *undated: ''Le Masque blanc'' *undated ''Monrose...''

Bibliography

* Jack Corzani, ''Littérature antillaise (poésie)'', 1971, * Edward Larocque Tinker, ''Les écrits de langue française en Louisiane au XIXe'', 1975, *

Numa Broc Numa Broc, born on 26 January 1934, in Versailles and died in Perpignan on 12 March 2017, was a French geographer, specialising in the history and epistemology of geography. Biography From a family of civil servants, Numa Broc attended second ...

, ''Dictionnaire des Explorateurs français du XIXe siècle'', T.3, Amérique, CTHS, 1999, * Dominique Chancé, ''Histoire des littératures antillaises'', 2005,

External links

Xavier Eyma
on Data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Eyma, Xavier 19th-century French journalists French male journalists 19th-century French novelists 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French chansonniers English–French translators 19th-century French poets 1816 births Martiniquais dramatists and playwrights 1876 deaths 19th-century French male writers Martiniquais journalists Martiniquais novelists 19th-century French translators