Albéric Second

Pierre Albéric Second (17 June 1817 – 2 June 1887 ) was a 19th-century French journalist, novelist and playwright.

Biography The son of a magistrate, Second felt no taste for law and began a literary career. He was successively assistant at Le Charivari, director of l'Entr'acte, co-founder of la Comédie parisienne, editor at Le Figaro, founder of Le Grand Journal with Hippolyte de Villemessant, and columnist at l'Événement before he took over the management of l’Entr’acte in 1870.

During a short period between 1848 and 1850, Second was sub-prefect of the Basses-Alpes department at Castellane. Awarded the Legion of Honour in 1859, he was Imperial commissioner of the Théâtre de l'Odéon from 1865 to 1870. In 1869, Second was commissioned to write the words of the cantata sung at the Opera in honor of the centenary of Napoleon, which is remarkable only for its flat mediocrity.

Gifted with a light spirit, a fun and easy skill, Second was especially appreciated for his columns. During the Revolution of 1848, he composed a cantata in which each stanza ended with these lines:

Charles Monselet wrote this portrait of him:

Main publications

1841: Lettres cochinchinoises sur les hommes et les choses du jour écrites à l'empereur de la Chine par trois Mandarins de première classe, traduites par Albéric Second, orientaliste du Charivari 1842: Les Mémoires d'un poisson rouge 1844: Les Petits Mystères de l'Opéra, illustrated by Paul Gavarni 1845: Histoire politique et culinaire de Joseph Sansot, Propriétaire de l'Hôtel de la Paix 1853: La Jeunesse dorée par le procédé Ruolz 1854: Contes sans prétention 1855: La Part du feu 1856: À quoi tient l'amour, fantaisies parisiennes 1856: Les Demoiselles du Ronçay 1860: Paris au jour le jour, with Hippolyte de Villemessant (2 volumes) 1862: Vichy-Sévigné, Vichy-Napoléon, ses eaux, ses embellissements, ses environs, son histoire, suivi d'une notice scientifique et médicale sur les eaux minérales de Vichy par le Dr Casimir Daumas 1868: Misères d'un prix de Rome 1872: Un dîner chez Brébant 1872: La Semaine des quatre jeudis 1877: À la recherche d'un gendre 1879: Le Roman de deux bourgeois 1886: Le Tiroir aux souvenirs Theatre 1836: Trichemont fils, vaudeville in 1 act, with Marc Michel, Théâtre d'Angoulême, 29 September 1839: Un dragon de vertu, folie-vaudeville in 1 act, with Marc Michel, Paris, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, 27 July 1839: Un neveu, s'il vous plaît, folie-vaudeville in 1 act, with Émile Pagès, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, 14 October 1842: La Peur du mal, comedy in 1 act, mixed with distincts, with Armand-Numa Jautard, Paris, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, 31 March 1842: Le Droit d'aînesse, comédie en vaudevilles in 2 acts, with Louis Lurine, Paris, Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques, 13 August 1854: La Comédie à Ferney, comedy in 1 act and in prose, with Louis Lurine, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 15 July 1855: English spoken, vaudeville in 1 act, with Auguste Joltrois, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 7 July 1869: Une vendetta parisienne, comedy in 1 act, in prose, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 11 February 1869: La Fontaine de Berny, opéra comique en 1 acte, music by Adolphe Nibelle, Paris, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 2 June 1872: Un maître en service, comedy in 1 act, with Jules Blerzy, Paris, Théâtre du Gymnase, 8 September 1875: Un mouton à l'entresol, comedy in 1 act, with Eugène Labiche, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 30 April 1878: Un baiser anonyme, comedy in 1 act and in prose, with Jules Blerzy, Comédie-Française 1882: La Vicomtesse Alice, drama in 5 acts and 8 tableaux, with Léon Beauvallet, Paris, Théâtre des Nations, 28 September 1883: La Vie facile, comedy in 3 acts, with Paul Ferrier, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 19 May 1885: Coup de soleil, comedy in 1 act, with Théodore de Grave, Paris, Théâtre de l'Odéon, 28 October