Jean-François Collin d'Harleville (30 May 1755 – 24 February 1806) was a French
dramatist
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 ...
.
He was born at
Maintenon (
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.[comedy
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 o ...]
accepted by the
Comédie Française in 1780, but not produced there until six years later, though it was played elsewhere in 1784. This was followed by ''L'Optimiste, ou l'homme toujours content'' (1788), and ''Châteaux en Espagne'' (1789). His best play, ''
Le vieux célibataire'', appeared in 1793.
Among his other plays are the one-act comedy ''Monsieur de Crac dans son petit castel'' (1791), ''Les Artistes'' (1796), ''Les Mœurs du jour'' (1800) and ''Malice pour malice'' (1803).
Collin was one of the original members of the
Institute of France
The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...
, and died 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. Si ...
.
The 1822 edition of his ''Théâtre et poésies fugitives'' contains a notice by his friend the dramatist
François Andrieux
François Guillaume Jean Stanislaus Andrieux (6 May 17599 May 1833) was a French man of letters and playwright.
Life
Born and educated at Strasbourg, Andrieux proceeded to Paris to study law. There he became a close friend of Collin d'Harlevil ...
. His ''Théâtre'' was also edited by Louis Moland in 1876; and by
Edouard Thierry in 1882.
Works
*1786: ''L'Inconstant'', comedy in 3 acts and in verse, Paris,
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...
, 13 June
Text online
*1788: ''L'Optimiste, ou l'homme toujours content'', comedy, Paris, Comédie-Française, 22 February
Text online*1789: ''Les Châteaux en Espagne'', comedy in 5 acts and in verse, Paris, Comédie-Française, 20 February
Text online*1791: ''Monsieur de Crac dans son petit castel, ou les Gascons'', comedy in 1 act and in vers with a divertissement, Paris, Comédie-Française, 4 March
Text online* ''Le Vieux célibataire'', comedy in 5 acts and in verse, Paris, Théâtre de la Nation, 24 February
Text online*1794: ''Malice pour malice'', comedy in 3 acts and in verse, Paris, Théâtre Louvois, 18 pluviôse an II (6 February)
*1794: ''Rose et Picard, ou suite de l'Optimiste'', comedy in 1 act and in verse with 1
comédie en vaudeville and
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, music by
Nicolas Dalayrac
Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many mu ...
Text online*1796: ''Être et paraître, ou les Deux voisins'', comedy in five acts and in verse, Paris, Théâtre de la rue Feydeau
*1796: ''Les Artistes'', play in 4 acts and in verse, Paris, 19 brumaire an V (9 November)
Text online*1799: ''Melpomène et Thalie, poème allégorique en 2 chants, lu à la séance publique de l'Institut National, le 15 nivôse an VII, par le citoyen Colin Harleville'' (4 January)
*1800: ''Les Mœurs du jour, ou l'École des jeunes femmes'', comedy in 5 acts and in verse, Paris, théâtre français de la République, 7 thermidor an VIII (26 July)
Text online*1803: ''Le Veuf amoureux ou la Véritable amie'', comedy in three acts and in verse, Paris, Comédie-Française, 30 March.
*1803: ''Le Vieillard et les jeunes gens'', comedy in five acts, in verse, Paris, Théâtre Louvois, 15 prairial an XI (4 June).
*1804: ''Il veut tout faire'', comédie épisodique in 1 act and in verse, Paris, Théâtre Louvois, 21 pluviôse an XII (11 February).
*1808: ''Les Querelles des deux frères, ou la Famille bretonne'', comedy in 3 acts, in verse, Paris, Théâtre de l'Impératrice, 17 November.
* ''Œuvres de Collin d'Harleville'' (4 volumes, 1821)
Text online 1234
References
*
External links
Collin d'Harleville
on Data.bnf.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collin dHarleville, Jean-Francois
18th-century French dramatists and playwrights
19th-century French dramatists and playwrights
1755 births
1806 deaths
People from Eure-et-Loir
Members of the Académie Française