DESCHAMPS, EMILE (1791-1871), French poet and man of letters, was born at Bourges. In 1818 he collaborated with Henri de Latouche in two verse comedies, Selmours de Florian and Le Tour de faveur. He and his brother were among the most en thusiastic disciples of the cenacle gathered round Victor Hugo, and in July 1823 Emile founded with his master the Muse francaise, which during the year of its existence was the special organ of the romantic party. His Etudes francaises at etrangeres (1828) were preceded by a preface which may be regarded as one of the mani festos of the romanticists. The versions of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1839) and Macbeth (1844), important as they were in the history of the romantic movement, were never staged. He was the author of several libretti, among which may be mentioned the Romeo et Juliette of Berlioz. His works include two volumes of stories, Contes physiologiques (1854) and Realites fantastiques (1854). He died at Versailles on April 23, 1871. His Oeuvres completes were published in 18 7 2-74 (6 vols.) .
His brother, Antoine Francois Marie, known as ANTONY DESCHAMPS, was born in Paris on March 12, 1800, and died at Passy on Oct. 29, 1869. Like his brother, he was an ardent roman ticist, but his production was limited by a nervous disorder, which has left its mark on his melancholy work. He translated the Divina Commedia in 1829, and his poems, Dernieres Paroles and Resignation, were republished with his brother's in 1841.