FABRE, MILE

born March 24, 1869, Metz, Fr. died Sept. 25, 1955, Paris French playwright and administrator of the Comdie-Franaise (191536) who developed it into a vehicle for classical and contemporary repertory. The son of a stage manager, Fabre began writing and producing plays at the age of 13. Comme ils sont tous (1894; As They All Are) was his first success, followed by a series of popular political and social satires: L'Argent (1895; Silver), La Vie publique (1905), Les Ventres dors (1905; The Golden Bowels), and Les Sauterelles (1911; The Grasshoppers), which attacked colonial administration. Other plays included a series of family tragedies and adaptations of two novels by Honor de Balzac.