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Sophie Hus also known under her the name ''Soulier'', née ''Buguet'' (1758 in
Sophie Hus also known under her the name ''Soulier'', née ''Buguet'' (1758 in Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
– after 1831, in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia), was a French stage actress. She was active in the French Theater of Gustav III
The French Theater of Gustav III was a French language theater active in Sweden between 1781 and 1792. The French theater company performed both before the Swedish royal court in the theaters of the royal palaces, as well as before the Swedish pu ...
in Sweden (1784–87), and the French theater in Russia (1787–99).
Life
Sophie Hus was the daughter of Maria Buguet Soulier and Josef Buguet Soulier, a cellist at the theater of Nîmes, and half sister of the musicianJean-Pierre Soulier
Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to:
People
* Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021-
* Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France
* Eugenia Pierre ( ...
. In 1781, she married Eugène Hus
Pierre-Louis Stapleton (17 July 1758 in Brussels – 24 February 1823 in Brussels) was a Franco-Belgian ballet dancer and choreographer. He was also known from around 1759 by the pseudonym Eugène Hus, after his stepfather Jean-Baptiste Hus.
Life ...
, but the couple separated in 1783.
Sophie Hus is first noted to have performed as an actress in Lyon 1772–73. In 1784, she was engaged to perform at the French theater in Stockholm by Jacques Marie Boutet de Monvel. She made a great success in Sweden, where she was regarded to be the perhaps greatest actress of the French theater, and it was said that many French actresses in Stockholm where compared to Hus long after her departure. Sophie Hus was described as foremost a tragedienne, recommended for her intense impression. She acted in tragedies such as ''Tancréde et Adelaide de Guesclin'' by Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
, and romantic comedies by Marivaux
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist.
He is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, writing nume ...
, Sedaine and Beaumarchais
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist, ...
.
During her tenure in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, Sophie Hus had a relationship with the Russian ambassador to Sweden, Arkady Morkov
Arkady Ivanovich Morkov (russian: Аркадий Иванович Морков; – ) was a Russian Imperial diplomat, noble (count), and Active Privy Councillor of Russia.
Morkov was the member of the Russian Collegium for Foreign Affairs and Al ...
. When he was recalled in 1786, she wished to accompany him to Russia, but was prevented from doing so because she had not yet fulfilled her term at the French theater in Sweden stipulated in her contract. In July 1786, Morkov arranged for Hus to be smuggled out from her contract in Sweden over the border by his secretary, dressed in male clothing. Hus and her maid was apprehended in Nyköping
Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County.
Including Arnö, the locality on the ...
on their way out of the country and Hus was arrested for intention of breaking her contract with the theater. She demanded to be freed from her contract, and was after negotiations allowed to resign after the 1786–87 season. Her attempted escape attracted much attention, and was the subject of the Swedish comedy play ''Le Desertice eller Rymmerskan'' ('The deserter or the Ranaway'), which was published anonymously in 1786 and attributed to Carl Israel Hallman or Gustav III, in which Sophie Hus was called "M.me Superlative".Oscar Levertin: Teater och drama under Gustaf III, Albert Bonniers förlag, Stockholm, Fjärde Upplagan (1920).
After having fulfilled the 1786–87 season Sophie Hus left Sweden for Russia, where she was engaged at the French theater until 1799. She resumed her relationship with Arkady Morkov, with whom she had a daughter: she is noted to have accompanied him to Paris in 1801. Her year of death is not known, but assumed to have been soon after 1831, the last year in which she is mentioned alive.
References