Maurice Donnay

[1] His father was a railway engineer and initially Donnay followed a similar profession, studying at the École centrale des arts et manufactures in 1882.

With Alphonse Allais, Donnay started by writing material for the celebrated cabaret le Chat noir.

Donnay made his serious debut as a dramatist on the little stage of Le Chat Noir with Phryne (1891), a series of Greek scenes.

With Amants in 1895 he won a great success, and the play was hailed by Jules Lemaître as the Bérénice of contemporary French drama.

[citation needed] They showed what was at the time advanced ideas on the relationship between the sexes, and used everyday language in their dialogue.