Félix Henri Duquesnel (2 July 1832 – 28 April 1915) was a French journalist, playwright and novelist.

Biography

He studied at the College Rollin, then at the Faculty of Law and was admitted to the bar which he quickly left to turn to journalism. A journalist at ''

L'Illustration ''L'Illustration'' (; 1843–1944) was a French language, French illustrated weekly newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in ...

'', ''

Je sais tout ''Je sais tout'' (meaning ''I Know All'' in English) was a French magazine established by Pierre Lafitte in 1905. It was noted for featuring the works of Maurice Leblanc, in particular the adventures of Arsène Lupin, which was first published ...

'' or ''

Le Gaulois () was a French daily newspaper, founded in 1868 by Edmond Tarbé and Henry de Pène. After a printing stoppage, it was revived by Arthur Meyer in 1882 with notable collaborators Paul Bourget, Alfred Grévin, Abel Hermant, and Ernest Dau ...

'' among other newspapers, Duquesne was theatre manager of the Théâtre de l'Odéon from 1866, of the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

(with Émile Rochard) (1880-1882), then of the

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin () is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to hou ...

from 1884 to 1893. His plays were presented on the most significant Parisian stages of his time, including the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, the

Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville () was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Pierre-Antoine-Augustin de Piis, Piis and Yves Barré, Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets s ...

, and the

Théâtre des Capucines The Théâtre des Capucines was a theatre on the boulevard des Capucines in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. Built in 1889 by architect Édouard-Jean Niermans, it was taken over by two brothers, Émile Isola and Vincent Isola, in 1892 to become ...

. He left an important correspondence with numerous personalities of the nineteenth century such as

Émile Augier Guillaume Victor Émile Augier (; 17 September 182025 October 1889) was a French dramatist. He was the thirteenth member to occupy seat 1 of the on 31 March 1857. Biography Augier was born at Valence, Drôme, the grandson of Pigault Lebrun, an ...

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

, Jules Sandeau,

Adolphe d'Ennery Adolphe d'Ennery (; or Dennery; Adolphe Philippe; 17 June 181125 January 1899) was a French playwright and novelist. Life Born in Paris, his real surname was Philippe. He obtained his first success in collaboration with Charles Desnoyer in ' ...

, Xavier de Montépin,

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

Works

Theatre

*1903: ''La Peur'', one-act comedy *1906: ''La maîtresse de piano'', play in five acts and 6 tableaux preceded by a

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

, with André Barde *1907: ''Patachon'', four-act comedy, with

Maurice Hennequin Maurice Hennequin (10 December 1863 – 3 September 1926) was a French-naturalized Belgian playwright. Biography A great-grandson of the painter Philippe-Auguste Hennequin, Maurice Hennequin was the son of Alfred Hennequin (1842–1887), himse ...

*1907: ''Le Cavalier Pioche'',

one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

*1909: ''La saison russe à Paris'' *1911: ''Sa Fille'', four-act comedy, with Barde

Novels

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

: ''Le Roman d'une fleuriste'', Ollendorff *

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

: ''Contes des dix mille et deux nuits'', Flammarion *

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

: ''Le mystère de Gaude'', Calmann-Lévy *

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escapes death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Janu ...

: ''Monsieur Roussignac, policier'', Juven *

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

: ''A la flamme de Paris'', Fasquelle *

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

: ''La bande des habits noirs'', Fasquelle

Other

* ''L'alphabet rationnel, étude sur l'alphabétisme et la graphie de la langue française'', Delagrave, 1897 * ''Souvenirs littéraires : George Sand, Alexandre Dumas, souvenirs intimes'', Plon-Nourrit, posth., 1922Previously published in ''Le Temps'', July–August 1913.

Bibliography

* , ''Les souvenirs de Félix Duquesnel'', ''Bulletin de la '' n° 132, (p. 27-31) * Elsa de Lavergne, ''La naissance du roman policier français'', 2009, (p. 320) ,

References

External links

Félix Duquesnel
on Data.bnf.fr 19th-century French journalists French male journalists 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists French theatre managers and producers 1832 births Writers from Paris 1915 deaths 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers {{France-journalist-stub