Albert de Saint-Albin (1843, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

– 18 December 1901, in Paris) was a 19th-century French playwright, journalist,

chansonnier A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings o ...

and librettist.

Biography

A journalist at ''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...

'', chief editor of the ''Jockey'' (1866) and the ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

'' (1880), he was known as a sports columnist under the pseudonym Robert Milton and was a great promoter of

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

. His plays were presented on the most important Parisian stages of the 19th century, including the Théâtre des Variétés, the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, the

Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles. Af ...

, and the Théâtre de la Gaîté. Moreover, Saint-Albin was a great collector of paintings by Eugène Boudin of which he owned a dozen works and by

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...

. Edmond de Goncourt, ''L'art du XVIIIe siècle'', 1901, p.176

Works

Theatre

*1875: ''Le Manoir de Pictordu'', comédie-opérette in 3 acts, with

Arnold Mortier Arnold Mortier (1843 – 2 January 1885) was a 19th-century French journalist, playwright, and librettist. Arnold Mortier was responsible for the drama column at ''Le Figaro'', gathered in a collection entitled ''Les soirées parisiennes de 18NN p ...

*1876: ''La Belle Poule'', three-act opéra bouffe, with

Hector Crémieux In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

*1877: ''La Foire Saint-Laurent'', three-act opéra bouffe, with Crémieux and Jacques Offenbach *1879: ''Le Grand Casimir'', three-act

opérette This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

, with

Jules Prével Jules Prével (1835 in Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët – 1889 in Paris) was a 19th-century French journalist and opera librettist. For a while, he was responsible for the theatre column in ''Le Figaro''. He participated in the writing of the libret ...

and

Charles Lecocq Alexandre Charles Lecocq (3 June 183224 October 1918) was a French composer, known for his opérettes and opéra comique, opéras comiques. He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable succ ...

*1884: ''Le Train de plaisir'', four-act comedy, with

Alfred Hennequin Alfred Néoclès Hennequin (13 January 1842 – 7 August 1887) was a Belgian playwright, best known for his farces. Born in Liège, Hennequin was trained there as an engineer, and was employed by the national railway company. In his spare time he w ...

and Mortier *1885: ''Mam'zelle Gavroche'', comédie-opérette, with

Edmond Gondinet Edmond Gondinet (7 March 1828 – 19 November 1888) was a French playwright and librettist. This author, nearly forgotten today, produced forty plays of which several were successful. He collaborated with Alphonse Daudet and Eugène Labiche, amo ...

*1885: ''Monsieur le Député'', one-act comedy *1888: ''Les Joyeusetés de l'année'' *1891: ''Monsieur l'abbé ou la Belle-mère apprivoisée'' *1893: ''Leurs gigolettes'' *1895: ''Panurge'', opéra comique, with Robert Planquette and

Henri Meilhac Henri Meilhac (23 February 1830 – 6 July 1897) was a French dramatist and opera librettist, best known for his collaborations with Ludovic Halévy on Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach, as well as Jules Massenet's ...

*1906: ''Le Péril jaune'', three-act comedy, with

Alexandre Bisson Alexandre Bisson (9 April 1848 – 27 January 1912) was a French playwright, vaudeville creator, and novelist. Born in Briouze, Orne in Lower Normandy, he was successful in his native France as well as in the United States. Remembered as a signi ...

, posth.

Sport

*1875: ''Les Salles d'armes de Paris'' *1875: ''Le Sportman'' *1889: ''Les sports à Paris'', 2 vol. *1889: ''Les cirques'' *1890: ''Les courses de chevaux en France'', Hachette *1899: ''Les Courses de lévriers, le coursing, greyhounds et fox-terriers'' by Alfred de Sauvenière, preface *undated: ''À travers les salles d'armes''

Songs

*1874: ''Le Langage des yeux !'', with Prével et Lecocq *1874: ''Les Oiseaux en cage'', with Auguste Coédès *1878: ''Pas de récompense. Plaintes d'une Parisienne'', with Coédès *1885: ''Barcarolle d'Asnières'' *1894: ''L'Ascenseur !''

Bibliography

* Henri Avenel, ''La presse française au vingtième siècle'', 1901, p. 435 * Manuel Gómez García, ''Diccionario Akal de Teatro'', 1998, p. 745 * Jacques Marchand, ''Les défricheurs de la presse sportive'', 1999, p. 98 * Kurt Gänzl, ''The encyclopedia of the musical theatre'', 2001, p. 1778

References

External links

Albert de Saint-Albin
on
Albert de Saint-Albin
on The Online Books Page
''Les sports à Paris''
on Gallica {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Albin, Albert de 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French journalists French male journalists French sports journalists French chansonniers French opera librettists 1843 births Writers from Paris 1901 deaths 19th-century French male writers