Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

{{Short description|French playwright, librettist, children's writer, and politician (1763–1842)}}

{{Infobox person

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| image = Jean-Nicolas Bouilly.jpg

| imagesize =

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| birth_date = 24 January 1763

| birth_place = Joué-lès-Tours

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1842|04|14|1763|01|24}}

| death_place = Paris

| othername =

| occupation = Playwright
Librettist
Writer

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}}

Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (24 January 1763 – 14 April 1842) was a French playwright, librettist, children's writer, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for writing a libretto, supposedly based on a true story, about a woman who disguises herself as a man to rescue her husband from prison, which formed the basis of Beethoven's opera Fidelio as well as a number of other operas.

Life

Bouilly was born near Tours, and was briefly a lawyer for the Parlement of Paris. At the outbreak of the Revolution he held office under the new government{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Bouilly, Jean Nicolas|volume=4|page=318}} and was head of the military commission in Tours during the Reign of Terror.

In 1795, he served as a member of the Committee of Public Instruction having a considerable share in the organization of primary education, but retired from public life four years later in order to devote himself to literature. Bouilly died in Paris.

Works

;Theatre

1790: Pierre le Grand, comedy in 4 acts and in prose,mingled with singing, music by André Grétry, Comédie Italienne, 13 January
1790: Jean-Jacques Rousseau à ses derniers moments, historical trait in 1 act and in prose, Comédie Italienne, 31 December [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57038c.pdf read online]
1798: Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal, historical fact in 2 acts and in prose mingled with songs, music by Pierre Gaveaux, created at the Théâtre Feydeau 19 February [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k849780.pdf Read online] The play formed the basis for the libretto which Ludwig van Beethoven used for the opera Fidelio; it was also set by Pierre Gaveaux as Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal (1798), by Ferdinando Paer as Leonora (1804), and by Simon Mayr as L'amor coniugale (1805).
1797: La Mort de Turenne, historical and military play with extravaganza, in 3 acts, mingled with pantomimes, fights and evolutions, with Jean-Guillaume-Antoine Cuvelier, Théâtre de la Cité, 11 June
1796: René Descartes, historical trait in 2 acts and in prose, Théâtre-Français, 20 September [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k48204n.pdf Read online]
1796: La Famille américaine, comedy in 1 act and in prose, mingled with songs, music by Nicolas Dalayrac, Comédie Italienne, 17 February
1799: Le Tombeau de Turenne, ou l'Armée du Rhin à Saspach, historical fact in 1 act, mingled with vaudevilles, pantomimes, dances and military evolutions, with Jean-Guillaume-Antoine Cuvelier and Hector Chaussier, Palais des Variétés, 8 January
1799: L'Abbé de L'Épée, historical comedy in 5 acts and in prose, Théâtre-Français, 14 December [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k84941n.pdf Read online]
1800: Les Deux Journées, comédie lyrique in 3 acts, music by Luigi Cherubini, Théâtre of the Opéra-Comique, 15 January
1800: Zoé, ou la Pauvre Petite, opera in 1 act, music by Charles-Henri Plantade, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 3 July
1800: Téniers, comedy in 1 act and in prose, mingled with vaudevilles, with Joseph Pain, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 18 October
1800: Florian, comedy in 1 act, in prose, mingled with vaudevilles, with Joseph-Marie Pain, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 18 December
1801: Berquin, ou l'Ami des enfants, comedy in 1 act, on prose, mingled with vaudevilles, with Joseph-Marie Pain, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 7 December [https://books.google.com/books?id=qIwGAAAAQAAJ Read online]
1802: Une Folie, comedy in 2 acts, mingled with songs, music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 4 April
1803: Fanchon la vielleuse, comedy in 3 acts, mingled with vaudevilles, with Joseph-Marie Pain, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 16 January [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k84922c.pdf Read online]
1803: Héléna, opera in 3 acts, music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 1 March
1804: Le Désastre de Lisbonne, heroical drama in 3 acts, in prose, mingled with dance and pantomime, music by Alexandre Piccini, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 24 November [https://books.google.com/books?id=E20UAAAAQAAJ Read online]
1805: L'Intrigue aux fenêtres, opera bouffon in 1 act, with Emmanuel Dupaty, music by Nicolas Isouard, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 25 February [https://books.google.com/books?id=TJcGAAAAQAAJ Read online]
1805: Madame de Sévigné, comedy in 3 acts and in prose, Théâtre-Français, 6 June [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k84934c.pdf Read online]
1806: Les Français dans le Tyrol, historical fact, in 1 act and in prose, Théâtre-Français, 1 February
1806: Agnès Sorel, comedy in 3 acts mingled with vaudevilles, with Emmanuel Dupaty, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 9 April
1808: Haine aux femmes, comedy in 1 act, mingled with vaudevilles, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 23 February
1809: Françoise de Foix, opera comique in 3 acts, with Emmanuel Dupaty, music by Henri Montan Berton, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 28 January
1809: Le Petit courrier, ou Commé les femmes se vengent, comedy in 2 acts, in prose, mingled with vaudevilles, with Charles-François-Jean-Baptiste Moreau de Commagny, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 20 April
1810: La Vieillesse de Piron, comedy in 1 act, in prose, mingled with vaudevilles, with Joseph-Marie Pain, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 9 April
1811: La Belle au bois dormant, féerie-vaudeville in 2 acts, with Théophile Marion Dumersan, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 20 February
1812: Robert le diable, comedy in 2 acts, mingled with vaudevilles, with Théophile Marion Dumersan, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 31 December
1813: Le Séjour militaire, opera comique in 1 act, music by Auber, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 27 February
1817: Le Prince en goguette, ou la Faute et la leçon, comedy in 2 acts and in prose, mingled with couplets, music by Marc-Antoine Désaugiers, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 21 April
1818: Les Jeux floraux, opera in 3 acts, music by Léopold Aimon, Académie royale de musique, 16 November
1822: Valentine de Milan, drame lyrique in 3 acts, posthumous music by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, score completed by Joseph Daussoigne, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 28 November
1829: Les Deux Nuits, opera comique in 3 acts, with Eugène Scribe, music by François Adrien Boieldieu, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 20 May
1832: Le Bandeau, comédie en vaudeville in 1 act, with Louis-Émile Vanderburch, Théâtre du Gymnase-Dramatique, 21 May
1833: Guido Reni, ou les Artistes, drama in 5 acts, with Antony Béraud, Comédie-Française, 6 February

;Tales

1807: Causeries d'un vieillard,
1819: Contes à ma fille,
1811: Conseils à ma fille [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5562023g.pdf Read online]
1817: Les Jeunes Femmes, 2 vol.
1817: Annales de la jeunesse, with M. et M^me Hyacinthe Azaïs, by Rougemont and Lefebvre,
1817: Les Encouragements de la jeunesse [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k748624.pdf read online]
1823: Les Mères de famille, 2 vol.
1824–1825: Contes offerts aux enfants de France, 2 vol.,
1827: Contes à mes petites amies, ou Trois Mois en Touraine, 1827 [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64323n.pdf Texte en ligne]
1829–1831 Le Portefeuille de la jeunesse, ou la Morale et l'histoire enseignées par des exemples, précédé d'un discours sur l'ensemble de l'ouvrage, 20 vol.,
1830: Contes populaires, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5473583t.pdf read online]
1835: Les Adieux du vieux conteur,
1836: Alfred et Nathalie, ou les Coupables supposés,
1838: Nouvelles Causeries d'un vieillard,
1846: La Discrétion,
1846: Petits Contes d'une mère à ses enfants,
1877: Nouveaux conseils à ma fille, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5496901t.pdf Read online]
1883: Contes moraux pour les jeunes élèves, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54961457.pdf read on line]
1884: Geneviève et Marcelin, ou les Jumeaux de la Beauce. La Charrette à bras, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64321z.pdf Read online]
1884: Le Dévouement filial, ou la Chanteuse volée, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64368m.pdf Read online]
1885: La Petite Gouvernante, suivie d'autres épisodes, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k643229.pdf Read online]
1886: Causeries pour la jeunesse, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54595745.pdf read online]
1886: Causeries et nouvelles causeries, [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54994m.pdf Read online]

;Varia

1836–1837: Mes Récapitulations, 3 vol.,
1837: Explication des douze écussons qui représentent les emblèmes et les symboles des douze grades philosophiques du rite écossais dit ancien et accepté, par l'ill.* F.* Bouilly,
1838: Nouvelles Récapitulations,
1842: Soixante ans du Théâtre-Français, par un amateur, né en 1769,
undated: Le Vieux Glaneur, ou de Tout un peu, poems.

In 1836 he published an autobiography.

Quote

"Whatever we possess becomes of double value when we have the opportunity of sharing it with others."

References

External links

{{Gutenberg author | id=4280}}
{{FadedPage|id=Bouilly, J. N.|name=Jean-Nicolas Bouilly|author=yes}}
{{Internet Archive author |sname=Jean Nicolas Bouilly}}
[https://archive.today/20121224035123/http://cesar.org.uk/cesar2/people/people.php?fct=edit&person_UOID=100134 Bouilly article] on the [http://cesar.org.uk CÉSAR site]

Category:1763 births

Category:1842 deaths

Category:People from Joué-lès-Tours

Category:18th-century French dramatists and playwrights

Category:18th-century French male writers

Category:19th-century French dramatists and playwrights

Category:Writers from Centre-Val de Loire

Category:French children's writers

Category:French male non-fiction writers

Category:French male short story writers

Category:19th-century French politicians

Category:French opera librettists

Category:French short story writers

Category:People of the French Revolution

Category:19th-century French memoirists