Jules Ars鋝e Arnaud Claretie (December 3, 1840 - December 23, 1913), was a French literary figure and director of the Th殪tre Fran蓷is. He was born at Lim瀻es. After studying at the lyc嶪 Bonaparte in Paris, he became a journalist, achieving great success as dramatic critic to Le Figaro and to the Opinion nationale. He was a newspaper correspondent during the Franco-German War, and during the Commune acted as staff-officer in the National Guard. In 1885 he became director of the Th殪tre Fran蓷is, and from that time devoted his time chiefly to its administration until his death. During the battle for Octave Mirbeau's comedy Les affaires sont les affaires (Business is business), the Comit?de Lecture is abolished, in October 1901, and Jules Claretie becomes the only responsible for choosing the modern plays to be performed. He was elected a member of the Acad幦ie fran蓷ise in 1888, and took his seat in February 1889. ?007 TopFoto