Adrien-Nicolas Piédefer, marquis de La Salle, comte d'Offrémont (1735 – 1818) was a French writer and cavalry officer who saw service in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, a writer of

comedies Comedy is a genre of dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

and

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 l ...

, and a Masonic brother of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. He was appointed ''maréchal de camp'' in 1791; He was appointed Governor of the west province of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

(now

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

) the following year, and twice governor-general. He was eventually a brigadier general. In lighter moments he wrote a successful comedy in verse, in three acts, ''L'oncle et les tantes'' ("Uncle and aunts"), which was reprinted in 1786. Previously he had supplied the libretti for at least two one-act

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s for which the music was composed by

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (; 17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French ...

. One, ''Le périgourdin'' ("The man from

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...

") was an ''

intermède ''Intermède'' (also ''intermédie'', ''intramède'', ''entremets'') is a French theatrical entertainment or spectacle, often involving song and dance and inserted between the acts of a play. It was similar to the Italian '' intermedio''. The co ...

'', a between-acts intermezzo that was presented at the private theatre of the prince de Conti at the

Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmore ...

, 7 June 1761. His one-act pastoral comedy ''Les pêcheurs'', ("The Fishermen") was presented to a Parisian public at the

Comédie-italienne Comédie-Italienne () or Théâtre-Italien () are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were ''commedia dell'arte'' companies ...

, 23 April 1766 and repeated 7 July. His translation of an English novel ''Histoire de Lucy Wellers'', by "Miss Smythies of Colchester" was printed at The Hague in 1766. The marquis de La Salle was a member of two

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

s in Paris, that of St-Jean d’Ecosse du Contrat Social, then that of

Les Neuf Sœurs La Loge des Neuf Sœurs (; The Nine Sisters), established in Paris in 1734, was a prominent French Masonic Lodge of the Grand Orient de France that was influential in organising French support for the American Revolution. A "Société des Neuf S ...

(1778–1785), where he succeeded

as ''vénérable'' in 1781. A ''Mémoire justificatif pour le marquis de la Salle'' was printed in 1789. The Château de Piédefer, Viry-Châtillon,

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

south of Paris, traditionally attributed to

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...

, is known for its late-seventeenth-century vaulted

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

encrusted with rock and shellwork in compartments, and an

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

, both listed as

Monuments historiques () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

since 1983. The seventeenth-century architecture of the château was modified in the eighteenth century; a parterre survives, with a water jet in a fountain, in the nineteenth-century wooded landscape park.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piedefer, Adrien-Nicolas 1735 births 1818 deaths Governors of Saint-Domingue French male writers