Edmond Rostand was born in Marseille into a wealthy and cultured Provençal family. His father was an economist and a poet. Rostand studied literature, history, and philosophy at the Collège Stanislas in Paris. Rostand abandoned his law studies in 1890 when his first book of poems appeared. At the age of 29, Rostand wrote his most successful and well-known play-Cyrano de Bergerac. When Cyrano was performed, the enthusiasm at the premiere became unexpected—people wept and it is told that the author was pelted with ladies' gloves and fans. Rostand revitalized the old romantic drama in verse. When naturalism was the major movement in literature, Rostand took up old themes and followed the tradition of Victor Hugo. Edmond Rostand died of pneumonia in Paris on December 2, 1918.