155 years ago today, on September 23, 1870 (August 28, 1870 in the lunar calendar), the great French writer Merrimet passed away. Prosper Merimet (September 28, 1803-September 23, 1870) was a French realist writer, master of short and medium stories, playwright, and historian. Merimee was born in an intellectual family in Paris, France, and his family was rich. His father is engaged in research on cultural relics protection at the École Polytechnique in Paris, and his mother is an art teacher. In 1819, Merrime entered the University of Paris to study law and also liked music. He was fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Greek and Latin, and was familiar with classical literature, philosophy and the mysterious thoughts of various countries. After graduating from college in 1823, he worked in the Ministry of Commerce. After working, he often went to literary groups and met writers such as Stendhal and Chateaubriand, and began to take writing as a hobby. In 1829, he published the novel "Anecdotes in the Era of Charles IX", which was titled "The Night of St. Bartholomew". In 1829, Merimet wrote "Matieo Falcone", which has a wonderful story and distinctive characters, making it one of his representative works. He continued to work hard and completed two masterpieces,"Tamango" and "Federico" in the same year. In 1834, Merimet was appointed chief inspector of historical relics. He and his friend Viole Le Duc designed a reconstruction plan for ancient buildings. He roamed Spain, Britain, Italy, Greece and Turkey. In addition to inspecting local cultural relics, he extensively contacted people from all walks of life, learned about anecdotes and folk customs, wrote a large number of travel notes, and accumulated materials for novel creation. In 1844, he was elected to the École des Arts Français, and in 1848, he succeeded Charles Notier to the École Français. Merimet is a rare scholarly writer in French realist literature. His writing heritage is profound. Although he does not have the sharp criticism of Stendhal, Balzac and others, he combines the magnificent exotic scenery, fascinating plots and characters with irregular personalities in his novels to form a vivid picture. It is a rare writing in French realist literature, so he established a high position in the history of French literature with just a dozen short stories. His masterpiece "Carmen" was adapted into an opera of the same name by French musician Bizet and gained worldwide reputation. The image of "Carmen" has also become a model in the history of Western literature.