Victor Koning (4 April 1842 – 1 October 1894) was a French playwright and

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

Biography

He authored theatre plays, mostly

comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...

and comédie en vaudeville and successful operettas libretti including ''

La Fille de madame Angot ''La fille de Madame Angot'' (''Madame Angot's Daughter'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq with words by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning. It was premiered in Brussels in December 1872 and soon became a success in ...

'' (1872) by

Charles Lecocq Alexandre Charles Lecocq (3 June 183224 October 1918) was a French composer, known for his opérettes and opéras comiques. He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable success in the 1870 ...

which he wrote in collaboration with Clairville and

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 ...

. Victor Koning was also managing director of the Théâtre de la Gaîté from 1 April 1868 to 13 March 1869 and of the

Théâtre de la Renaissance The name Théâtre de la Renaissance has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building on t ...

from 1875 to 1882. On 19 June 1884 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

(England), he married the actress

Jane Hading Jane Hading (25 November 1859 – 28 February 1941)(19 February 1941) ''The New York Times'' was a French actress. Her real name was Jeanne-Alfrédine Tréfouret.

, who he helped make her debut at the Théâtre du Gymnase the previous year in '' Le Maître de forges'', a huge theatrical and literary success. They divorced in 1888. On 27 May 1893, he married a second time with the actress Raphaële Sisos The writers Jules Clarétie and

Auguste Vacquerie Auguste Vacquerie (1819–1895) was a French journalist and man of letters. Biography Vacquerie was born at Villequier (Seine-Maritime) on 19 November 1819. He was from his earliest days an admirer of Victor Hugo, with whom he was connected ...

, Eugène Bertrand, director of the

Opéra de Paris 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 ...

, and Arthur Meyer, director of ''

Le Gaulois ''Le Gaulois'' () was a French daily newspaper, founded in 1868 by Edmond Tarbé and Henry de Pène. After a printing stoppage, it was revived by Arthur Meyer in 1882 with notable collaborators Paul Bourget, Alfred Grévin, Abel Hermant, an ...

'', were witnesses at the act. In July 1894, he suffered a stroke. Some days later, the ''

Gil Blas ''Gil Blas'' (french: L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane ) is a picaresque novel by Alain-René Lesage published between 1715 and 1735. It was highly popular, and was translated several times into English, most notably as The Adventures of G ...

'' informed its readers that But his health was getting worse. In ''

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 ...

'' dated 8 September,�
Théâtres
», ''

'', , at Gallica. it read that It is in this facility that he died three weeks later. He was buried on 4 October in the Montparnasse Cemetery.

Works

Theatre

* 1867: ''Les Plaisirs de Paris ou 1867'', revue in four acts and twenty-five tableaux by Koning, Saint-Agnan Choler and

Adolphe Choler Adolphe Joseph Choler (1821 – 19 January 1889) was a French playwright and librettist who was born in and died in Paris. He was Saint-Agnan Choler's brother. His plays were presented on the most important Parisian venues of the 19th century: T ...

, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin * 1872: ''La revue n'est pas au coin du quai'', review in four

tableaux The International Conference on Automated Reasoning with Analytic Tableaux and Related Methods (TABLEAUX) is an annual international academic conference that deals with all aspects of automated reasoning with analytic tableaux. Periodically, it jo ...

by Koning, Siraudin and Clairville,

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 ...

* 1872: ''La Cocotte aux œufs d'or'', féérie in three acts and twelve tableaux by Koning, Clairville and

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 ...

, Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs * 1873: ''

'', opéra comique in three acts by Koning, Siraudin and Clairville, music by

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 f ...

* 1873: ''Canaille et Compagnie'', drama in five acts and ten tableaux by Koning, Siraudin and Clairville,

Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique The Théâtre de l’Ambigu-Comique (, literally, Theatre of the Comic-Ambiguity), a former Parisian theatre, was founded in 1769 on the boulevard du Temple immediately adjacent to the Théâtre de Nicolet. It was rebuilt in 1770 and 1786, but in ...

* 1876: ''On demande une femme honnête'', comédy in one act by Koning and Aurélien Scholl, Théâtre des Variétés

Texts

* 1864: ''Les Coulisses parisiennes'', foreword by

Albéric Second Pierre Albéric Second, (17 June 1817 - 2 June 1887 Théodore Barrière Théodore Barrière (1823 – 16 October 1877), French playwright, was born in Paris. He belonged to a family of map engravers which had long been connected with the war department, and spent nine years in that service himself. The success o ...

, E. Dentu, Paris * 1872: ''Tout Paris'', foreword by Henry de Pène, E. Dentu, Paris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koning, Victor 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights Theatre directors from Paris French librettists Writers from Paris 1842 births 1894 deaths Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery