Le Jardin des Personnalités, Honfleur #9: Alphonse Allais

I mentioned Alphonse Allais (1854-1905) in a post about his house and museum. The plaque here calls him a writer and comedian who initially, following in his father's footsteps by studying pharmacy, but gave this up definitively in 1879 to devote himself to journalism. He gained some fame from 1883, when he wrote for the cabaret paper Le Chat Noir, then moved to Le Journal in 1892. He became editor-in-chief of Le Sourire in 1894, where he remained until his sudden death in Paris. He is called here a master of the hoax and the pun whose humour has a remarkable modernity. The cartoon is by Cappiello.