Charles de La Rounat, real name Aimé-Nicolas-Charles Rouvenat, (16 April 1818 – 25 December 1884 ) was a 19th-century French writer,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, journalist and theatre director. A director of the Théâtre de l'Odéon from 1856 to 1867, then from 1880 to 1884, he authored several theatre plays and

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

s libretti, most of them in collaboration. The historian (1867–1939) was his grandson.

Biography

After studying literature, he was appointed in 1848 by the Provisional Government of 1848 secretary of the

Luxembourg Commission The Government Commission for Workers (french: Commission du gouvernement pour les travailleurs), best known as the Labour Commission (french: Commission du travail, label=none) or the Luxembourg Commission (french: Commission du Luxembourg, label=n ...

presided by Louis Blanc, before turning to theatre. In 1855, he started collaborating with ''

La Revue de Paris ''Revue de Paris'' was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis-Désiré Véron Louis-Désiré Véron (1798 in Paris – September 27, 1867 in Paris) was a French opera manager and publisher. Biography Véron originally made his ...

''. After he was appointed director of the Théâtre de l'Odéon the following year, he successfully set up plays by many young authors but eventually resigned in June 1867 over disagreement with the regulators. He then returned to journalism, wrote the feuilleton of the newspaper '' Le Siecle'' and was appointed government commissioner to subsidized theaters. After he applied in 1879 for the chair of director of the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, which ultimately fell to

Auguste Vaucorbeil Auguste Emmanuel Vaucorbeil, born Veaucorbeille, (15 December 1821 – 2 November 1884) was a French composer and theatre manager. He was the director of the Paris Opera from 1879 until his death at the age of 62. Vaucorbeil was born in Rouen and s ...

, he became director of the Odeon February 15, 1880, succeeding

Félix Duquesnel Félix Henri Duquesnel (2 July 1832 – 28 April 1915) was a French journalist, playwright and novelist. Biography He studied at the College Rollin, then at the Faculty of Law and was admitted to the bar which he quickly left to turn to journa ...

. A fall he made the following winter by going to the Department of Fine Arts caused a coxalgy, of which he died three years later, 25 December 1884.

Paul Porel Paul Porel, ''né'' Désiré Paul Parfouru (25 October 1843 – 4 August 1917), was a French actor, director and theatre manager. He was for many years closely associated with the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris, where he was first an actor, and th ...

succeeded him at the Odéon.

Plays

* 1849: ''Les Associés'', one-act vaudeville with

Armand Montjoye Armand Montjoye, real name Jules Joseph Montjoye, (Paris, 8 February 1816 – Paris, 13 January 1871) was a 19th-century French painter and playwright. Biography A son of the dancer Louis-Stanislas Montjoie (1789 – 1865), a student of Jean-D ...

, Théâtre des Variétés * 1850: ''La Mariée de Poissy'', vaudeville with Adolphe d'Ennery,

Eugène Grangé Eugène Grangé (16 December 1810 – 1 March 1887) was a French playwright, librettist, chansonnier and goguettier. Biography The son of Pierre-Joseph Basté and Louise-Thérèse Grangé, Pierre-Eugène Basté was born in rue Beautreillis ...

, Variétés * 1851: ''Les Malheurs heureux'', comédie en vaudeville with

Félix-Auguste Duvert Félix-Auguste Duvert (12 January 1795 – 19 October 1876) was a 19th-century French playwright and vaudevillist. Biography Félix-Auguste Duvert was first a soldier. A volunteer in 1811 among the riflemen of the young guard, he then was par ...

Augustin-Théodore de Lauzanne de Vauroussel Augustin-Théodore de Lauzanne, chevalier de Vaux-Roussel (4 November 1805 – 15 October 1877) was a 19th-century French playwright. Biography Aged 13, Lauzanne came to Paris where he grew up and developed an interest in literature and especia ...

, Variétés * 1851: ''Une bonne qu'on renvoie'', one act vaudeville with Samuel-Henri Berthoud, Variétés * 1853: ''Pulchriska et Léontino'', "pochade" mingled with

couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

s with Montjoye, Théâtre du Palais-Royal * 1853: ''Un homme entre deux airs'' with

Alfred Delacour Alfred Delacour or Alfred-Charlemagne Delacour, real name Pierre-Alfred Lartigue, (3 September 1817 – 31 March 1883 ) was a 19th-century French playwright and librettist. Biography In addition to his occupation as a physician, which he prac ...

, Montjoye, Palais-Royal * 1854: ''La Pile de Volta'', one-act "

pochade A pochade (from French ''poche'', pocket) is a type of sketch used in painting. As opposed to a croquis, which is line art, a pochade captures the colors and atmosphere of a scene. Generally, pochades use a small, portable format. Robert Henri a ...

" in 1 act mingled with couplets with

Paul Siraudin Pierre-Paul-Désiré Siraudin (18 December 1812 – 8 September 1883) was a French playwright and librettist. He also used the pen names Paul de Siraudin de Sancy, Paul Siraudin de Sancy and M. Malperché. Biography He wrote many plays, mai ...

, Palais-Royal * 1855: ''Une panthère de Java'' "pochade" with Montjoye, Palais-Royal * 1856: ''Les Vainqueurs de Lodi'', one-act comedy, Théâtre du Gymnase * 1856: ''Pâquerette'', one-act

with Grangé, music by

Jules Duprato Jules Laurent Anacharsis Duprato (20 August 1827 – 20 May 1892) was a 19th-century French composer.Wagstaff 1992. Biography A student of Aimé Leborne at the Conservatoire de Paris, he won first prix de Rome, grand prix de Rome for musical c ...

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

* 1871: ''Marceline'', drama in 4 acts, Théâtre du Gymnase * 1877: ''Les Deux Jardiniers'', one-act opéra comique with Théodore de Banville, Opéra-Comique * 1879: ''La Courte Échelle'', three-act opéra comique, music by Edmond Membrée, Opéra-Comique * 1880: ''Le Beau Solignac'', five-act drama with Jules Clarétie,

William Busnach William Bertrand Busnach (7 March 1832, Paris – 20 January 1907, Paris) was a French dramatist. Biography Busnach was a nephew of the composer Fromental Halévy. His father was associated with David Ben Joseph Coen Bakri, to whom France was ...

, Théâtre du Châtelet

Other

* 1857: ''La Comédie de l'amour'', novel,

Michel Lévy frères Michel Lévy Frères is a Parisian publishing house founded in 1836 by Michel Lévy with his brothers Nathan and Kalmus. Michel served as publisher until his death in 1875. Michel Lévy Frères published such authors as Honoré de Balzac, Gustav ...

, Paris * 1884: ''Études dramatiques. Le théâtre français : Mme Arnould-Plessy, MM. Régnier, Got, Delaunay'', Librairie de l'Art Jules Rouam, Paris * 1886: ''Souvenirs et poésies diverses'', foreword by

Francisque Sarcey Francisque Sarcey (8 October 1827 – 16 May 1899) was a French journalist and dramatic critic. Career He was born in Dourdan, Essonne. After some years as schoolmaster, a job for which his temperament was ill-fitted, he entered journalism i ...

, Paris

Honours and titles

* Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (12 August 1864 decree) ; * officier de la Légion d'honneur au titre du ministère de l'Instruction publique et des Beaux-arts (13 July 1883 decree). Le parrain choisi par Charles de la Rounat est Camille Doucet, secrétaire perpétuel de l'

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

.�
Charles Rouvenat
» sur la Base Léonore.

References

Bibliography

* Pierre Larousse, �
Charles Rouvenat de La Rounat
», ''Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe'', tome 10, Paris, 1873, p. 211, at Gallica {{DEFAULTSORT:Larounat 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French theatre managers and producers Knights of the Legion of Honour Writers from Paris 1818 births 1884 deaths