The name Chénier for most contemporary readers evokes the young poet, André Chénier, whose brilliant career, like that of so many others, ended tragically by the guillotine. At the time of the French Revolution, however, and during the early nineteenth century, André was much less well known and less celebrated than his younger brother, Marie-Joseph Chénier, the foremost revolutionary poet and playwright, a champion of freedom of the stage, a central figure in the organization of the great revolutionary festivals, a vigorous political pamphleteer, and an active and influential member of the National Convention. No playwright is more closely associated with the stage during the French Revolution than Marie-Joseph Chénier, particularly with his best-known play, Charles IX, first produced in 1789.

Marie-Joseph Chénier was born on 28 August 1764 in Constantinople. His father was the diplomat and historian, Louis...