Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Belot, Adolphe
BELOT, Adolphe, was born at Pointe-à-Pitre, in the island of Guadeloupe, Nov. 6, 1829, and while yet very young travelled extensively in the United States, Brazil, and other parts of North and South America. He studied law at Paris, and became an advocate at the bar of Nancy in 1854. His first attempt in literature was "Châtiment" (Paris, 1855), a novel, which failed to attract attention. Two years later be brought out "À la Campagne," a one-act comedy, which gave no indication of the immense and lasting success of his second dramatic composition, "Le Testament de César Girodot," a comedy in three acts, written in conjunction with M. Charles Edmond Villetard, and first performed at the Odéon Theatre, Paris, Sept. 30, 1859. This play still holds possession of the French stage. M. Belot has written a large number of other dramatic pieces, including "Fromont jeune et Risler aîné," founded on the celebrated novel of M. Alphonse Daudet. He is also the author of numerous novels, some of which have passed through as many as forty editions. The most celebrated of these is "Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme" (1870), a work distinguished rather by its immoral audacity than by its literary merit. His later works are "Le Parricide" (1873), in conjunction with M. J. Dautin; "Dacolard et Lubin," a sequel to the preceding (1874); "Mémoires d'un Caissier;" "Hélène et Mathilde;" "La Femme de Feu;" "Deux Femmes;" "Folies de Jeunesse;" "La Sultane Parisienne," an English translation of which appeared in 1879; and an elaborate romance in four volumes (1875–6), entitled respectively,—"Les Mystères Mondains;" "Les Baigneuses de Trouville;" "Madame Vitel et Mademoiselle Lelièvre;" and "Une Maison centrale de Femmes." His drama, "Les Étrangleurs de Paris," was acted for the first time at the Porte Saint-Martin Theatre, March 17, 1880. M. Belot was nominated a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1867.