Giraudoux, (Hippolyte) Jean (1882–1944)

French dramatist and novelist. He wrote the plays Amphitryon 38 (1929), La Guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu/Tiger at the Gates (1935), and La Folle de Chaillot/The Madwoman of Chaillot (1945). His novels include Suzanne et la Pacifique/Suzanne and the Pacific (1921), Eglantine (1927), and Les Aventures de Jérôme Bardini (1930).

Giraudoux's plays reflect his range of interests and his technical proficiency in a variety of genres, including fairy-tale fantasies, historical and legendary plays, poetic drama, and light comedy. Although he often dealt with weighty and urgent themes, the most striking quality of his work is a graceful and witty sense of the fantastic.

Giraudoux was born in Bellac. By profession he was a diplomat and he held many government posts. His literary career began as a writer of short stories and novels, including Siegfried et le Limousin (1922), Combat avec l'ange (1934), and Choix des élues (1939). He started writing plays in his forties; his first one, Siegfried (1928), was a dramatization of his novel Siegfried et le Limousin. Others include Judith (1931), Intermezzo (1933), and Ondine (1939). He had a long and successful association with the actor and director Louis Jouvet, whose company first staged almost all his plays.