Monnier, Henri (1799-1877). French satirist, known for the creation in his 1830 Scènes populaires of the character of Joseph Prudhomme, the typical bourgeois—good-hearted but stupid and pretentious, naïve and limited but very verbose. His Les Bourgeois de Paris (1834) and Mémoires de Joseph Prudhomme (1857) combine wit and realism in their presentation of the foibles and pretentions of the middle class. He illustrated his own works. Actor as well as artist and writer, he contributed much to vaudeville, puppet theatre, etc.
[Frank Paul Bowman]
