Henri Fursy or Furcy (real name Henri Dreyfus, 26 February 1866 - 14 April 1929) was a French cabaret singer, director and lyricist.

Life

Henri Dreyfus was born on 26 February 1866 in the

3rd arrondissement of Paris The 3rd arrondissement of Paris (''IIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements (districts) of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as the ''"troisième"'' meaning "third" in Fr ...

. Under the stage name of Henri Fursy, he was a

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 ...

, a singer of humorous songs, in Montmartre. He also directed several cabarets as a manager or owner, including the famous ''

Le Chat Noir Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a nineteenth-century entertainment establishment, in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by the impresario Rodolphe Salis ...

'' (The Black Cat), which he bought after the death of

Rodolphe Salis Louis Rodolphe Salis (29 May 1851 – 20 March 1897) was the creator, host and owner of the Le Chat Noir ("The Black Cat") cabaret (known briefly in 1881 at its beginning as "Cabaret Artistique"). With this establishment Salis is remembered as the ...

and renamed ''La Boîte à Fursy'' (The Fursy Box). He also wrote songs for several Parisian artists of the early 20th century. Henri Fursy was made a Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

in 1927. He died in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

on 14 April 1929. Albert Michaud published a tribute after his death in '' Le Cornet'' (The Horn) where he says Fursy left a young widow and an adopted girl. He is buried in the cemetery of Montparnasse.

Bibliography

* Chansons rosses, Ollendorff, 1898, cover illustration by Léandre. * Chansons rosses, part 2, Ollendorff, 1899, cover illustration by Gründ. * Chansons de La Boîte (chansons rosses, part 3), Société d'éditions littéraires et artistiques, 1902. * Chansons rosses, part 4, Ollendorff, 1905.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fursy, Henri Writers from Paris 1866 births 1929 deaths French chansonniers French lyricists 19th-century French male singers Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery French male singer-songwriters