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, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

. 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 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 Greec ...

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 . 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 manages approximately 1 ...

, and died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The 1822 edition of his ''Théâtre et poésies fugitives'' contains a notice by his friend the dramatist François Andrieux. 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
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*1788: ''L'Optimiste, ou l'homme toujours content'', comedy, Paris, Comédie-Française, 22 February
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*1789: ''Les Châteaux en Espagne'', comedy in 5 acts and in verse, Paris, Comédie-Française, 20 February
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*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
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* ''Le Vieux célibataire'', comedy in 5 acts and in verse, Paris, Théâtre de la Nation, 24 February
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*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 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, music by Nicolas Dalayrac
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*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)
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*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)
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*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