Pierre Corneille

Pierre Corneille was a French dramatist of the seventeenth century, generally ranked with Moliere and Racine among the great playwrights of French classicism. Trained in law, he served as a royal magistrate in his native Rouen while writing for the Paris stage. His early comedies gave way to tragedy, and Le Cid (1637) brought sudden fame and a literary controversy over its adherence to classical rules. Later works including Horace, Cinna, and Polyeucte developed a drama of will, honour, and moral conflict. He wrote or collaborated on more than thirty plays across roughly four decades. He was elected to the Academie francaise in 1647.