Mérimée, Prosper (1803–1870)

French author. Among his works are the short novels Mateo Falcone (1829), Colomba (1841), Carmen (1846) (the basis for Bizet's opera), and the Lettres à une inconnue/Letters to an Unknown Girl (1873). Romantically set in foreign countries, his stories nevertheless have a realistic background of local colour and atmosphere.

Born in Paris, the son of a painter, Merimée studied law and entered the public service. He became inspector general of historic monuments and under Napoleon III was employed on unofficial diplomatic missions. His literary career began with six dramatic pieces which he attributed to an imaginary Spanish actor, Clara Gazul (Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul/The Theatre of Clara Gazul 1825), and continued with a further hoax in the form of a collection of supposed Illyrian folksongs, signed ‘La Guzla’. After these highly Romantic works, he turned to writing the short novels which were to bring him lasting fame.