Désirée Pacault (29 January 1798 – 25 January 1881) was a French poet, composer, journalist and writer.

Biography

Pacault was the daughter of a rhetoric professor, Désirée Pacault was born in

Beaune Beaune (; in Burgundian: ''Beane'') is widely considered to be the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and a major ...

on the 11th

pluviôse Pluviôse (; also ''Pluviose'') was the fifth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European langua ...

of the

Year 6 Year 6 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including Japan, most of Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the sixth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between ten and eleven. It is genera ...

. Based at the Hôtel d'Aligre, at 123

rue Saint-Honoré The Rue Saint-Honoré () is a street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. It is named after the collegial , situated in ancient times within the cloisters of Saint-Honoré. The street, on which are located a number of museums and upscal ...

in Paris, in 1825 she sold the book ''Le Participe français mis à la portée de tous les âges'', written by the schoolteacher A. Riby and reissued in 1829. She obtained a bookseller's patent on 18 July 1828 and published in 1831 the prospectus ''Écho littéraire, album poétique''. Member in 1831 of the ''Athénée des arts, sciences et belles lettres de Paris'', in 1832 of the ''Société d'enseignement universel'', she intervened on 29 October 1832 during a literary evening of the ''Athénée des arts'' to read one of her texts entitled "L'Inspiration". In 1837, she wrote a poem in honour of the marriage of

Duke of Orléans Duke of Orléans () was a French royal title usually granted by the King of France to one of his close relatives (usually a younger brother or son), or otherwise inherited through the male line. First created in 1344 by King Philip VI for his yo ...

and Hélène of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In December, she replaced Théodore Poupin as editor-in-chief of ''La Capricieuse, journal des modes parisiennes'', where she gave more space to reviews of shows. In 1838, she was a literary critic for the magazine ''La France littéraire''. Member in 1839 of the academies of sciences in Vienna and of letters in Florence, in 1840 of the Academy of Sciences of Siena (first female member), in 1846 of the Society of Artist Musicians of Paris, she obtained in 1842 a silver medal from the Society Racinienne for a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

in honour of

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tra ...

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, she set some of her poems to music, such as "C'était les ciels", which she dedicated to the lodge ''Les Amis fidèles de l'Orient de Paris''. She also composed art songs (''"mélodies"'' on poems by

Alphonse de Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869) was a French author, poet, and statesman. Initially a moderate royalist, he became one of the leading critics of the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe, aligning more w ...

and Jean Reboul. An ode to

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...

that she wrote, set to music by

George O'Kelly George Alexandre O'Kelly (12 October 1831 – 2 September 1914) was a Franco-Irish pianist and composer, who spent much of his career in Boulogne-sur-Mer. A member of a family of musicians, he was the only one with several orchestral scores to his ...

, was sung at a literary and artistic festival organized in Paris on 10 June 1880, for the three-hundredth anniversary of the death of the Portuguese poet. She 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 ...

on 25 January 1881, at 47 Rue des acacias in the 17th arrondissement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacault, Desiree 1798 births 1881 deaths People from Beaune 19th-century French writers 19th-century French women writers 19th-century French composers 19th-century French women composers