Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville
Encyclopedia
Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville (13 December 1787, Paris
-7 November 1865, Marly-le-Roi
), pen-name Mélésville, was a French dramatist.
Mélesville, by which he is still known.
He wrote in all genres - dramas, melodramas, comedies, vaudeville
s, opera librettos - and is the sole or collaborative author of more than 340 plays. His collaborators included Eugène Scribe
and Delestre-Poirson
, with the collective pseudonym
of Amédée de Saint-Marc. He collaborated with the more famous authors Brazier
, Carmouche
, Bayard
, Scribe
, Léon Laya
on over 500 plays, some of which enjoyed great success. It was with Scribe that he enjoyed his most consistent successes, on genre pieces, thanks to the pieces' design and to their wit, happy words and well-observed detail. He also wrote with Dumersan
and Théaulon
. As a librettist, he notably collaborated with Auber and Adam
.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
-7 November 1865, Marly-le-Roi
Marly-le-Roi
Marly-le-Roi is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre....
), pen-name Mélésville, was a French dramatist.
Life
The son of a distinguished magistrate, Mélésville initially had success at the bar and as a magistrate. He left these jobs in 1814 to dedicate himself to the theatre (though he had first gained praise in that area in 1811 for his comedy l’Oncle rival). Out of consideration for his father's position, he wrote under the pseudonymPseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Mélesville, by which he is still known.
He wrote in all genres - dramas, melodramas, comedies, vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
s, opera librettos - and is the sole or collaborative author of more than 340 plays. His collaborators included Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
and Delestre-Poirson
Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson
Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson Auguste-Simon-Jean-Chrysostome Poirson, known as Delestre-Poirson was a French playwright and theatre director....
, with the collective pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Amédée de Saint-Marc. He collaborated with the more famous authors Brazier
Nicolas Brazier
Nicolas Brazier was a French chansonnier and Vaudeville playwright.-Life:Son of a boarding school master and author of school manuals, Brazier's education was however strongly neglected due to the French Revolution...
, Carmouche
Pierre Carmouche
Pierre-François-Adolphe Carmouche was a French playwright. He wrote more than 200 successful plays, comedies, vaudevilles and texts for opéras comiques, in collaboration with diverse collaborators - Brazier, Dumersan, Mélesville, de Courcy, etc.In 1824 he married the actress Jenny Vertpré.He also...
, Bayard
Jean-François Bayard
Jean-François Alfred Bayard was a French playwright.-Life:As a law student and a lawyer's clerk, Bayard wrote with passion for the theatre and, after several attempts, had a great success at the Gymnase theatre, with la Reine de seize ans...
, Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
, Léon Laya
Léon Laya
Léon Laya was a French playwright. He was the son of the académicien Jean-Louis Laya.Léon Laya was the author of a number of successful comedies, alternating between the delicacy or purity of the idea and the vivacity of the form : Une Maîtresse anonyme, in 2 acts ; la Peau du lion, in 2 acts ...
on over 500 plays, some of which enjoyed great success. It was with Scribe that he enjoyed his most consistent successes, on genre pieces, thanks to the pieces' design and to their wit, happy words and well-observed detail. He also wrote with Dumersan
Théophile Marion Dumersan
Théophile Marion Dumersan was a French writer of plays, vaudevilles, poetry, novels, chanson collections, librettos, and novels, as well as a numismatist and curator attached to the Cabinet des médailles et antiques of the Bibliothèque royale.-Life:The family's real surname was Marion but – to...
and Théaulon
Emmanuel Théaulon
Marie-Emmanuel-Guillaume-Marguerite Théaulon de Lambert was a French playwright.A customs inspector, then an inspector of military hospitals, he composed an Ode on the birth of the King of Rome which brought him thanks from Napoleon himself...
. As a librettist, he notably collaborated with Auber and Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
.
Source
- Gustave Vapereau, Dictionnaire universel des littératures, Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 687. View at Google Books.