Léon Laya (c.1810 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 ...

– 5 September 1872 in Paris) was a 19th-century French playwright. The académicien

Jean-Louis Laya Jean-Louis Laya (4 December 1761, Paris – 25 August 1833, Meudon) was a French playwright. He wrote his first comedy in collaboration with Gabriel-Marie Legouvé in 1785. The piece, however, though accepted by the Comédie française, was never ...

was his father. Léon Laya was the author of a number of successful comedies, alternating between the delicacy or purity of the idea and the vivacity of the form : ''Une Maîtresse anonyme'', in 2 acts (1812) ; ''la Peau du lion'', in 2 acts (1814) ; ''les Cœurs d’or'', in 3 acts, with Prémaray ( Gymnase, 1854) ; ''les Jeunes gens'', in 3 acts, free and independent adaptation of

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

's ''

Adelphoe ''Adelphoe'' (also ''Adelphoi'' and ''Adelphi''; from Greek ᾰ̓δελφοί, ''Brothers'') is a play by Roman playwright Terence, adapted partly from plays by Menander and Diphilus. It was first performed in 160 BC at the funeral games of Ae ...

'' ( Théâtre-Français, 1855) ; ''le duc Job'', in 4 acts, one of the most sustained successes of the Théâtre-Français (1859) ; ''la Loi du cœur'' (Théâtre-Français, 1862), etc.

Theatre

*''Le Docteur du défunt'', comédie-vaudeville in 1 act, with W. Lafontaine and

Pierre Carmouche Pierre Carmouche (9 April 1797 - 9 December 1868) was a French playwright and chansonnier. He wrote more than 200 successful plays, comedies, comédies en vaudevilles and texts for opéras comiques, in collaboration with diverse authors - Braz ...

, Paris,

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 ...

, 28 June 1825 *''Le Dandy'', comedy in 2 acts, mingled with songs, with

Jacques-François Ancelot Jacques-Arsène-Polycarpe-François Ancelot (9 January 1794 – 7 September 1854) was a French dramatist and litterateur. Biography Born in Le Havre, Ancelot became a clerk in the admiralty, and retained his position until the Revolution of ...

, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 15 October 1832 Text online
/small> *''La Robe de chambre, ou les Mœurs de ce temps-là'', comedy in 1 act mingled with songs, with Jacques-François Ancelot, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 10 June 1833 *''Le Poltron'', comedy en 1 act, with

Jean-François Bayard Jean-François Alfred Bayard (17 March 1796, Charolles, Saône-et-Loire – 20 February 1853, Paris) was a French playwright. He was the nephew of fellow playwright Eugène Scribe. Life As a law student and a lawyer's clerk, Bayard wrote with pa ...

, Charles Potron and Alphonse Gauthier, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 9 October 1835 *''La Liste de mes maîtresses'', comedy in 1 act, 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 Charles Potron, Paris,

Théâtre du Palais-Royal The Théâtre du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history ...

, 26 January 1838 *''La Lionne'', comedy in 2 acts, mingled with song, with Jacques-François Ancelot, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 14 February 1840 *''Le Hochet d'une coquette'', comedy in 1 act, Paris,

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History It owes its creation to the theatre director Mademoiselle ...

, 13 July 1840 *''L'Œil de verre'', comedy in 1 act, mingled with song chant, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 15 September 1840 *''Je connais les femmes !'' comedy in 1 act, mingled with song, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 14 November 1840 *''L'Esclave à Paris'', comédie anecdotique in 1 act, mingled with couplets, with Pierre Carmouche, Paris,

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue ...

, 5 March 1841 *''Un Mari du bon temps'', comedy in 1 act, mingled with song, Paris, Gymnase-Dramatique, 14 August 1841 *''Le Premier Chapitre'', comedy in 1 act, mingled with song, Paris, Gymnase-Dramatique, 11 July 1842 *''Une maîtresse anonyme'', comedy in 2 acts, mingled with song, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 8 October 1842 *''Le Portrait vivant'', comedy in 3 acts, with

Mélesville Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier, pen-name Mélesville (13 December 1787 in Paris – 7 November 1865 in Marly-le-Roi) was a French dramatist. The playwright Mélesville fils was his son. Life The son of Honoré-Nicolas-Marie Duveyrier, M� ...

, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 17 October 1842 *''La Peau du lion'', comedy in 2 acts, mingled with song, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 3 April 1844 *''L'Étourneau'', comedy in 3 acts, mingled with couplets, with Jean-François Bayard, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 7 September 1844 *''Emma, ou Un ange gardien'', comedy in 3 acts, mingled with song, Paris, Gymnase-Dramatique, 28 October 1844 *''Un poisson d'avril'', comedy in 1 act, mingled with couplets, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 1 April 1845 *''Georges et Maurice'', comédie vaudeville in 2 acts, with Jean-François Bayard, Paris, Théâtre du Gymnase, 21 February 1846 *''Les Demoiselles de noce'', comédie-vaudeville en 2 actes, avec Jean-François Bayard, Paris, Gymnase-Dramatique, 31 October 1846 *''Un coup de lansquenet'', comedy in 2 acts, in

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 30 January 1847 *''La Recherche de l'inconnu'', comédie-vaudeville in 2 acts, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 8 October 1847 *''Léonie'', drama in 1 act, mingled with songs, Paris, Gymnase-Dramatique, 24 January 1848 *''Rage d'amour, ou la Femme d'un ami'', vaudeville in 1 act, with Jean-François Bayard, Paris, Théâtre du Gymnase, 22 December 1848 *''Le Groom'', comedy mingled with couplets, with Jean-François Bayard, Paris, Théâtre de l'Odéon, 21 August 1849 *''Deux Vieux Papillons'', comedy in 1 act, mingled withcouplets, Paris, Théâtre de l'Odéon, 2 March 1850 *''Le Prince Ajax'', comedy in 2 acts, mingled with song, Paris, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 10 February 1852 *''Les Cœurs d'or'', comedy in 3 acts, mingled with song, with Jules de Prémaray and Amédée Achard, Paris, Théâtre du Gymnase, 15 July 1854 *''Les Jeunes gens'', comedy in 3 acts, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 10 March 1855 *''Les Pauvres d'esprit'', comedy in 3 acts, in prose, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 27 November 1856 *''Le Duc Job'', comedy in 4 acts and in prose, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 4 November 1859 *''La Loi du cœur'', comedy in 3 acts, in prose, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 6 March 1862 *''Madame Desroches'', comedy in 4 acts, in prose, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 18 December 1867 *''La Gueule du loup'', comedy in 4 acts, in prose, Paris, Théâtre du Gymnase, 16 October 1872

Sources

Gustave Vapereau Louis Gustave Vapereau (4 April 1819 – 18 April 1906) was a French writer and lexicographer famous primarily for his dictionaries, the ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'' and the ''Dictionnaire universel des littérateurs''. Biography ...

, ''Dictionnaire universel des littératures'', Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 1209

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laya, Leon Writers from Paris 1810 births 1872 deaths 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 19th-century French male writers 1870s suicides