JANIN, JULES GABRIEL French critic, was born at St. Etienne (Loire) on Feb. 16, 1804, and died near Paris on June 19, 1874. He worked on the Figaro, the Quotidienne, etc., until in 1830 he became the dramatic critic of the Journal des Debats. After many years of feuilleton writing he collected some of his articles in the work called Histoire de la litterature dramatique en France (6 vols., 1853-58). In 1870 he was admit ted to the Academy. One of the best of his many books is Fin d'un monde et du neveu de Rameau 0860, in which, under the guise of a sequel to Diderot's masterpiece, he showed his great familiarity with the late 18th century. His Oeuvres choisies (12
vols., 1875-78) were edited by A. de la Fitzeliere.
A study on Janin with a bibliography was published by A. Pieclag nel in 1874. See also Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lsundi, ii. and v., and Gustave Planche, Portraits litteraires.