HALEVY, LUDOVIC, (1834— ). A French dramatist, born in Paris. He achieved great popularity during the Second Empire for work in collaboration with Henri Meilhac (q.v.) in light comedy, and by writing Offenbach's most popular librettos. Their first great suc cess was ha belle Helene (1865), followed by Ilarbe bleue (1866) ; La grande duchesse (1867) ; La Perichole (1868); Carmen (1875) ; and Le petit duo (1878). They wrote also during this period farces of unusual levity, and toward the close of the Empire essayed the serious though sensational drama in Pi-on-Frau (1869), one of the greatest theatrical successes of the century. From the literary point of view, the best of their joint work is in realistic and farcical satires, such as Tricoche et Cacolet (1872) ; La boule, or, instill lighter vein, the sparkling effervescing one-act play Reveillon, and the clever but un savory Toto chez Tata. Both Meilhac and
worked also independently. Here Halevy has de voted himself almost wholly to novelistic satire and idyllic sketches. Of the former, the best are the three astonishingly clever volumes on the Car dinal family: M. et Mme. Cardinal (1873) ; Les pctitcs Cardinal (1880) ; La famille Cardinal (1883), whose head is a "corrupt Puritanic Prud homme of vice." Of the latter, L'abbe Constantin (1882) is world-renowned for its frrsle charm, and the early part of Criquette (1883) is hardly less winning in its picture of a theatrical Parisian gamin. The rest of Halevy's fiction is not sig nificant. He was elected to the Academy in 1886. The dramatic works (Theatre Complet) of Ha levy and Meilhac are in course of publication (5 vols., Paris, 1901). Consult Matthews, French Dramatists of the Nineteenth Century (3d ed., New York, 1901).