Pauline Thys

{{Short description|French composer and librettist}}

Pauline Marie Elisa Thys [-Lebault] (1835–1909) was a French composer and librettist. She was born in Paris. Her father was the opéra comique composer Alphonse Thys (1807–1879). Initially she composed salon romances and light piano music in the tradition of Loïsa Puget, and, by the age of 20, had published her work with the music publisher Heugel.{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2020 |title=THYS Pauline |url=http://www.bruzanemediabase.com/fre/Personnes/THYSPauline |website=Bru Zane Media Base}}{{dead link|date=April 2024}} During Thys's lifetime, commentators viewed her as one of the best composers of the salon romance.{{Cite book |last=Tunley |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FR8uDwAAQBAJ&dq=pauline+thys&pg=RA2-PT56 |title=Salons, Singers and Songs: A Background to Romantic French Song 1830-1870 |date=2017-07-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-55020-8 |language=en}}

She subsequently turned to writing larger-scale musical works for the stage including operettas, opéra-comiques, and operas, including several for which she authored the libretto.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvoQQU1QL_QC&pg=PA460 |title=The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers|first1=Julie Anne|last1=Sadie|first2=Rhian|last2=Samuel|year=1994|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=9780393034875|access-date=12 November 2010}} These works were staged at the Opéra-Comique and at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens{{Cite book |last=Sadie |first=Julie Anne |url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0002021389 |title=Thys [Sébault], Pauline-Marie-Elisa |date=2017-12-12 |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.2021389}} among other venues.{{Cite web |date=1895-03-02 |title=Le Figaro. Supplément littéraire du dimanche |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k272797j |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Gallica |language=EN}} Her four-act opera Judith is cited in American essayist Theodore Stranton's The Woman Question in Europe as an example of French women's achievements in music.{{Cite book |last=Stanton |first=Theodore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=15a6FHWZ1lYC |title=The Woman Question in Europe: A Series of Original Essays |date=1895 |publisher=C.W. Bardeen |language=en}} Excerpts from Judith were frequently performed in public.{{Cite book |last=Ebel |first=Otto |url=http://archive.org/details/lesfemmescomposi00ebel |title=Les femmes compositeurs de musique. Dictionnaire biographique |date=1910 |publisher=Paris, P. Rosier |others=Wellesley College Library}} Her opera Le Mariage de Tabarin was staged to great success on December 5, 1855, at the Theatre Royal in Florence and in numerous other cities.

In addition to her musical work, Thys was also a novelist: she published the novel Les bonnes bêtes under the pseudonym Mme. M. Du Coin.{{Cite book |last=McVicker |first=Mary F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqDPDAAAQBAJ&dq=pauline+thys&pg=PA49 |title=Women Opera Composers: Biographies from the 1500s to the 21st Century |date=2016-08-04 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2361-0 |language=en}}

In 1877, she founded the Association des femmes artistes et professeurs, an organization whose aim was to address the obstacles faced by women and to draw attention to their work.{{Cite web |date=1877-03-17 |title=L'Univers illustré : journal hebdomadaire |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5735686n |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Gallica |language=EN}} The group's first concert, presented on March 11, 1877, featured the work of composers Delphine Ugalde, Clémence de Grandval, Amélie Perronnet, and excerpts from Thys's comic opera Le Mariage de Tabarin.{{Cite web |date=1877-03-18 |title=Le Ménestrel : journal de musique |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5614339v |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Gallica |language=EN}} In 1883, she became a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes académiques.

Thys married Charles Lebault in June 1860 and the couple divorced in 1886.{{Cite web |title=Visionneuse - Archives de Paris |url=https://archives.paris.fr/arkotheque/visionneuse/visionneuse.php?arko=YTo2OntzOjQ6ImRhdGUiO3M6MTA6IjIwMjAtMDMtMTUiO3M6MTA6InR5cGVfZm9uZHMiO3M6MTE6ImFya29fc2VyaWVsIjtzOjQ6InJlZjEiO2k6NDtzOjQ6InJlZjIiO2k6MjAzOTE5O3M6MTY6InZpc2lvbm5ldXNlX2h0bWwiO2I6MTtzOjIxOiJ2aXNpb25uZXVzZV9odG1sX21vZGUiO3M6NDoicHJvZCI7fQ== |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=archives.paris.fr}} Thys married her second husband Charles Marque du Coin in 1886.{{Cite web |title=Visionneuse - Archives de Paris |url=https://archives.paris.fr/arkotheque/visionneuse/visionneuse.php?arko=YTo2OntzOjQ6ImRhdGUiO3M6MTA6IjIwMjAtMDMtMTUiO3M6MTA6InR5cGVfZm9uZHMiO3M6MTE6ImFya29fc2VyaWVsIjtzOjQ6InJlZjEiO2k6NDtzOjQ6InJlZjIiO2k6MjM4MTg2O3M6MTY6InZpc2lvbm5ldXNlX2h0bWwiO2I6MTtzOjIxOiJ2aXNpb25uZXVzZV9odG1sX21vZGUiO3M6NDoicHJvZCI7fQ== |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=archives.paris.fr}} Following his death in 1906, Thys relocated to Forest-Les-Bruxelles in Belgium, where she lived for the rest of her life.{{Cite web |title=Prix de Rome 1830-1839 |url=http://www.musimem.com/prix-rome-1830-1839.htm#Thys |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=www.musimem.com}}