Marc-Antoine Madeleine Désaugiers (17 November 1772 – 9 August 1827) was a French composer, dramatist, and songwriter. Désaugiers is easily confused in historical writings with his father,

Marc-Antoine Désaugiers Marc-Antoine Désaugiers (1742 – 10 September 1793) was a French composer of numerous operas as well as a cantata on the storming of the Bastille and several pieces of sacred music. He was born in Fréjus. He studied music there but was largely ...

(b. Fréjus, 1742 – d. Paris, 10 September 1793), who was himself a composer of eleven operatic works, mostly comedies, for the stages of Paris, and left ten stage compositions unperformed. Both father and son died in their early 50s.

Biography

Desaugiers was born in

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

( Var), son of an accomplished composer for the stage. He studied at the

Collège des Quatre-Nations The Collège des Quatre-Nations ("College of the Four Nations"), also known as the Collège Mazarin after its founder, was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris. It was founded through a bequest by the Cardinal Mazarin. At his ...

, known as "Mazarin College" 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 ...

, where he had for one of his teachers the critic Julien Louis Geoffroy. He entered the Saint-Lazare seminary with a view to the priesthood, but soon gave up his intention. In his nineteenth year he produced in collaboration with his father a light

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 ...

(1791) adapted from '' Le Médecin malgré lui'' of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

. During the French Revolution he emigrated to

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, and during the Negro revolt he was made prisoner, barely escaping with his life. He took refuge in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he supported himself by teaching the piano. In 1797, he returned to his native country, and in a very few years he became famous as 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 ...

, operas and

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 ...

s, which were produced in rapid succession at the ''

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 ...

'' and the ''Vaudeville''. He also wrote convivial and satirical songs, which, though different in character, can only worthily be compared with those of Béranger. He was at one time president of the ''Ceveau'', a convivial society whose members were then chiefly drawn from literary circles. He had the honor of introducing Béranger as a member. In 1815, Désaugiers succeeded Pierre Yves Barr as manager of the Vaudeville, which prospered under his management until, in 1820, the opposition of the Gymnase proved too strong for him, and he resigned. Désaugiers died in

at the age of 55. Among his pieces may be mentioned ''Le Valet d'emprunt'' (1807); ''Monsieur Vautour'' (1811); and ''Le Règne d'un terme et le terme d'un règne'', aimed at

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Among his collaborators was

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of man ...

. An edition of Désaugiers' ''Chansons et Poésies diverses'' appeared in 1827. A new selection with a foreword by Alfred de Bougy appeared in 1858. See also

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 ...

's ''Portraits contemporains'', vol. V.

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desaugiers, Marc-Antoine-Madeleine 1772 births 1827 deaths People from Fréjus French opera composers French male opera composers French poets University of Paris alumni Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male poets