Edmond Rostand

Edmond Rostand (1868-1918) was born in Marseilles, France, in 1868, the son of a distinguished and cultured family. The young Rostand was educated first in Marseilles, then in Paris, where he earned a degree in law. It was a profession, however, that he was never to practice. He made his literary debut in 1890 with a volume of lyric verse, and his first important play, The Romancers, was produced by the Comédie Francaise in 1894. In 1897, Cyrano de Bergerac won critical acclaim and spectacular popular success, and Rostand further solidified his position as the foremost of modern French romantic dramatists with L’Aiglon in 1900 and Chantecler in 1910.