DENNERY, or D'ENNERY, ADOLPHE PHILIPPE, a French dramatic writer of Jewish extraction, was b. at Paris on June 17,1811. His first employment was that of clerk to a notary; he gave that up to become a painter; and afterwards, while still very young, he became a contributor to the newspapers. The first dramatic work in which he had a hand was brought out in 1831; this was Emile, ou le Hp? d'un Pair de France, and it was produced by him in concert with M. Charles Desnoyer, a well-known litterateur and theatrical critic. It had some success, and D. followed it up lyith two or three others, which had so much popularity that his services as a play-writer came into con siderable demand. He was a ready writer, and always able to come up to a fair stand ard of merit; and, encouraged by the theatrical managers of France, he has been one of the most prolific of dramatic authors. He has produced, by himself or in concert with others, about 200 pieces in one style or another; and a few years ago, five of his pieces were to be seen upon the Parisian stage at one time. Latterly, D. has been a
man of business as well as an author. He was appointed director of the Theatre His torique in 1850, but resigned this appointment almost immediately. An attempt which he made in 1855 to establish a new theater, which he first proposed to call the Theatre du Peuple, and afterwards the Theatre du Prince Imperial, did not succeed; but since that, he has had a large share in establishing and in managing a public company, in which many with the press and with the theaters Were concerned the Societe Thermale de Cabourg-Dives. Of this company, whose speculation con sisted in developing the attractions of a new watering-place (in the dep. of Calvados), he has been successively secretary and managing director. D. was decorated with the legion of honor on the 10th Dec., 1849, and was promoted to the rank of officer on the 16th of Aug., 1859.