Émile de Najac

He was a prolific writer during the Second Empire and early part of the Third Republic, supplying plays and opéra comique librettos, many in one act.

[2] Always writing with a co-author, Najac provided librettos for several opéras comiques and opéras bouffes: La Momie de Roscoco, with Eugène Ortolan, music by Émile Jonas, (Bouffes-Parisiens, 1857);[3] Les Noces de Fernande, with Victorien Sardou, music by Louis Deffès, (Opéra-Comique, 1878);[4] La Bonne Aventure, with Henri Bocage, music by Émile Jonas, (Théâtre de la Renaissance, 1882);[3] Le Premier baiser, with Raoul Toché, music by Jonas (Nouveautés 1883).

[2] La vie mondaine and Paul Ferrier, music by Charles Lecocq (Théâtre des Nouveautés, 1885);[5] and Le roi malgré lui, with Paul Burani, music by Emmanuel Chabrier (Opéra-Comique, 1887).

[6] In Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Christopher Smith says of Najac, "[He] formed no lasting association with any one librettist or composer, which may explain why he made comparatively little of his talents despite his industriousness".

[2] Divorçons remains in the French theatrical repertoire, and was the basis for two films by Ernst Lubitsch: Kiss Me Again (1925) and That Uncertain Feeling.