CHENIER, MARIE JOSEPH DE, 1764-1811; pOet and dramatist, younger brother of Andre Chenier; b. in Constantinople, and educated at the college de Navarre. He also served a short time in the army, but left it for literary composition, producing, at the age of 20, Azcmire, a tragedy which was not very successful. Ills next work, however, Charles XII:, gave occasion for the commencement of TaIma's renown, and gained great popularity. It still keeps the stage. Following- these came Henry 1111. and C'alas; in 1'O2, Caius Gracchug, which was proscribed and burned because of the anti-anarchical phrase " The law, and not blood;" and the drama rinokon, proscribed in 1793. The death of his brother on the scaffold took him away from play-writing, which lie attempted again. only once (in 1SO4), when he produced Cyrus, which was not a success. Ile was long a prominent member of the Jacobin club; a member of the convention, and also of the council of five hundred, over both of which he presided; he had a seat in the tribunate, and belonged to the committees of public instruction, of general security, and of public safety. In 1806-7, he delivered a course of lectures, on the language and
literature of France from the earliest period; and in 1808, at Napoleon's request, he prepared his Tableau Historigue de l'Etat et du Progres de la Litteratu•e F•aqaise. Ile was the author of many hymns, songs, and odes, among them the famous chant du Depart; odes on the death of Mirabeau, the oligarchy of Robespierre, tragedies that never reached the stage, and translations from the Greek, Latin, and German authors. As a satirist he was said to possess great merit.