Pierre-Nicolas André-Murville
Pierre-Nicolas André called de Murville, (1754 - 1815) was an 18th–19th-century French poet and playwright. The son of a director of fodder in Alsace, Murville competed at the age of 19, for the poetry prize of the Académie française, did not obtain it, and for some years was one of the most stubborn competitors. Finally in 1776, he shared the same price with a certain Gruet, a student of abbot Delille. In 1785, Murville received the encouragement award from said Académie. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he served in the army as a captain. Returning  to Paris, he gave himself again to the letters, and died almost destitute. Among his many productions, which, for most, rose hardly above the mediocre, it falls "les Adieux d’Hector et d’Andromaque", a play which shared the prize in 1776 ; l’"Épitre à Voltaire", who got the runner-up in 1779; the comedy "Melcourt et Verseuil", which had some success in 1785, and the tragedy "Abdelazis et Zuleima", presented in 1791. The almanachs des Muses and other collections contain many of his verse. He married the daughter of Sophie Arnould, singer at the Académie royale de musique. Pierre-Nicolas André-Murville