Maurice Charles Marie Lelièvre was born in Lille, France in 1848. He was the son of Ernest
François Lelièvre, a landowner and painter, and Élisabeth Clotilde Caroline Bernard. He married Marie Victoire Liégeard in 1878 in Orléans.
Maurice was influenced by the works of Pissaro and was
a student of Dubefe, Mazerolle, Harpignies and Laurens
He exhibited at the Salon from 1877 to 1896.
He lived in rue Notre Dame des Champs in Paris where he died on 12 January 1897 possibly as a result of the great flu epidemic that swept the city in that year.
His paintings are exhibited at Musee des Beaux-Arts in Tours and the Musee D'Orsay, Paris as well as the museums at Beziers and Bordeaux.