COOLUS, ROMAIN, known as RENE WEIL (1868-- ), French dramatist, born at Rennes on May 25, 1868. His first popular success seems to have been Les Amants de Sazy (19o1), a daring play full of biting irony, which has not yet lost its appeal. Among the plays which definitely made Coolus' reputation are Antoinette Sabrier (1903), L'Enfant Cherie (1906), Coeur a Coeur (1907), and Une Femme passe (1910). Since the World War he has tended to abandon serious comedy in favour of vaude ville : L'Autruche (1923) and Ne un Dimanche (1924). The dis tinguishing features of Coolus' more important works are an ex tremely lucid analysis of human character under the stress of passion, and an endeavour to show that in questions of love we ought to judge with an indulgence founded on understanding and sympathy, and in that spirit of broad humanity which alone can avert tragedy in individual lives. L'Enfant Cherie and Coeur a Coeur are particularly characteristic in this respect. Coolus has sometimes been accused of an immoral tendency, but he has al ways claimed that, on the contrary, he defends the rights of con science against the blind cruelty of convention. Since the death of Robert de Flers, Coolus has been president of the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers. He was also one of the found ers of the C.T.I. (Confederation of Intellectual Workers).