Claude-Aimé Desprez-Saint-Clair (5 April 1783 – 26 April 1824) was a French

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...

. He himself performed comedy plays and, around 1810, joined the troupe of the

Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique The (, 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 1827 was destroyed by fire. A ...

under the name Saint-Clair.

Works

* ''Le Foyer ou le Couplet d'annonce'', with Varez, vaudeville presented at the Théâtre des Jeunes-Artistes. * ''Kikiki'', with

Brazier A brazier () is a container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel for cooking, heating or rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet, but in some places it is made of terracotta. Its elevation helps circulate air, feed ...

and Varez, parody of ''Tékêli'', presented at the Nouveaux-Troubadours. * ''Le Mariage de la Valeur'', vaudeville, presented at the Ambigu-Comique. * ''L'Espoir réalisé'', vaudeville, ''ibid.'' * ''Le Jardin d'Oliviers'', ''ibid.'' * ''Le Mariage sous d'heureux auspices'', with Ferrière, vaudeville in 1 act, on the occasion of the marriage of the Duke of Beni, presented at the Ambigu-Comique, Paris, 1816, in-8°. * ''Marguerite de Straffort, ou le Retour à la royauté'', with the same,

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

in 3 acts, in prose, presented on the same stage, Paris, 1816, in-8°. * ''Retournons à Paris'', with Varez, comedy in 1 act mingled with vaudevilles, presented on the same stage, Paris, 1817, in-8°. * ''Grégoire à Tunis'', with Ferrière, vaudeville presented at the Ambigu-Comique. * ''Monsieur de la Hure'', vaudeville given at the Théâtre de la Gaîté. * ''L'Homme à tout'', with an anonymous author, vaudeville, Théâtre de la Gaîté. * ''Les Épaulettes de grenadier'', with Edmond, comedy in 1 act, mingled with vaudevilles, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, Paris, 1820, in-8°. * ''Paris'', with Edmond, Crosnier and Émile de Plugette,

impromptu An impromptu (, , loosely meaning "offhand") is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ''ex tempore'' improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano. According to ''Allgeme ...

mingled with

couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

s, on the occasion of the birth of his Royal Highness the Duke of Bordeaux, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 29 September 1820, Paris, 1820, in-8°. * ''Le Bouffon dans l'embarras'', with Ferrière, vaudeville,

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 The theatre owed its creation to Mademoiselle Montans ...

. * ''Les Ermites'', with Edmond Crosnier and Michel-Nicolas Balisson de Rougemont, comédie en vaudevilles in 1 act, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, Paris, 1821, in-8°. * ''Le Protégé de tout le monde'', with J. Dusaulchoy and Alexandre-Joseph Le Roy de Bacre, comédie en vaudevilles in 1 act, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 12 November 1822, Paris, 1822, in-8°. * ''Le Mariage à la turque'', vaudeville in 1 act, Paris, 1823, in-8°. * ''Malbrouck'', folie-vaudeville. * ''La Grotte de Fingal, ou le Soldat mystérieux''.

Sources

* Joseph-François Michaud: ''Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne'', t. 10, Paris, Madame C. Desplaces, 1852, 603 p. {{DEFAULTSORT:Desprez-Saint-Clair, Aime 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French male stage actors French chansonniers People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1783 births 1824 deaths