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Auguste-Marseille Barthélemy (1796 – 23 August 1867) was a French satirical poet. His name can hardly be separated from that of his friend and compatriot, Joseph Méry (1798–1866), with whom he carried on so intimate a collaboration that it is not possible to distinguish their personalities in their joint works.
Life
Auguste-Marseille Barthélemy was born in 1796 in Marseille. After having established some local reputation as a poet, Barthélemy went to Paris, where by one of his first efforts, Le Sacre de Charles X (1825) he gained the favor of the court. His energies, however, were soon enlisted in the service of the opposition party. In 1825 appeared a clever political satire, Les Sidiennes, followed by La Villéliade ou la prise du château de Rivoli (1827), La Corbiéréide (1827), La Peyronnéide, the joint productions of Barthélemy and Méry. The success was immediate and pronounced; fifteen editions of the Villéliade were called for during the year. A rapid succession of political squibs and satires was now poured forth by the authors, among the most remarkable being Biographie des quarante de l’Académie française (1826) and Napoléon en Égypte (1828), which passed through nearly a dozen editions in a year.