François-Benoît Hoffman
François-Benoît Hoffman (; 11 July 1760 – 25 April 1828) was a French playwright and critic, best known today for his operatic librettos, including those set to music by Étienne Méhul and Luigi Cherubini (most notably Cherubini's ''Médée'', 1797). Career Hoffman was born in Nancy, and studied law at the University of Strasbourg. Believing that his stammer hindered his legal career, he entered military service in Corsica. He served there for only a very short time, and, returning to Nancy, wrote some poems which brought him into notice at the little court of Lunéville over which the Marquise de Boufflers then presided. In 1784 he went to Paris where he wrote his first opera libretto, ''Phèdre'', for the composer Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. It was performed at Fontainebleau in October 1786. After quarrelling with Lemoyne, Hoffman offered his libretto ''Adrien, empereur de Rome'' to Cherubini, who turned it down in favour of another Hoffman drama, ''Médée''. '' Adrien'' was ...
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