François Coppée

Born in Paris in 1842, François Coppée became known as a poet, playwright, and novelist whose writing focused on modest lives rather than grand heroes. Early in his career he worked as a clerk in the Ministry of War, and his first poems appeared in the 1860s.

He gained wider attention with the play Le Passant in 1869 and later served as librarian of the Comédie-Française. Associated with the Parnassian movement, he developed a more intimate and accessible style than many of his contemporaries, and he was especially admired for poems about the poor, city streets, and domestic feeling, including work collected in Les Humbles.

Coppée was elected to the Académie française in 1884 and remained a prominent literary figure until his death in Paris in 1908. Today he is remembered for giving lyrical dignity to ordinary experience and for writing in a voice that aimed to be moving without losing its simplicity.