Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier, pen-name Mélesville (13 December 1787 in Paris – 7 November 1865 in

Marly-le-Roi Marly-le-Roi () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the administrative region of Île-de-France, France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Marly-le-Roi was the location of the Château de Marly, ...

) 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 ...

. The playwright Mélesville fils was his son.

Life

The son of Honoré-Nicolas-Marie Duveyrier, Mélesville initially had success at the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

and as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. He left the legal profession in 1814 to dedicate himself to the theatre, though he had first gained praise in that area in 1811 for his comedy ''l'Oncle rival''. Out of consideration for his father's position, he wrote under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Mélesville, by which he is still known. He wrote in all genres - dramas, melodramas, comedies,

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, opera librettos - and is the sole or collaborative author of more than 340 plays. His collaborators included

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 ...

and Delestre-Poirson, with the collective

of Amédée de Saint-Marc. He collaborated with the more famous authors

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 ...

, Carmouche,

Bayard Bayard may refer to: People *Bayard (given name) * Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places Antarctica * Bayard Islands, off the coast of Graham Land, Antarctica Canada * Bayard, Saskatch ...

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

Léon Laya Léon Laya (c.1810 in Paris – 5 September 1872 in Paris) was a 19th-century French playwright. The Académie française, académicien Jean-Louis Laya was his father. Léon Laya was the author of a number of successful comedies, alternating betwe ...

on over 500 plays, some of which enjoyed great success. It was with Scribe that he enjoyed his most consistent successes, on genre pieces, thanks to the pieces' design and to their wit, happy words and well-observed detail. He also wrote with Dumersan and Théaulon. As a

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

, he notably collaborated with Auber and

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

; he was also librettist for

Ferdinand Hérold Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold (28 January 1791 – 19 January 1833), better known as Ferdinand Hérold (), was a French composer. He was celebrated in his lifetime for his operas, of which he composed more than twenty, but he also wrote ballet mus ...

's comic opera ''

Zampa ''Zampa'','' ou La fiancée de marbre'' (''Zampa, or the Marble Bride'') is an opéra comique in three acts by French composer Ferdinand Hérold, with a libretto by Mélesville. The overture to the opera is one of Hérold's most famous works an ...

''. Ignaz Brüll's most successful opera, '' Das goldene Kreuz'' (''The Golden Cross''), was also based on a story by Mélesville.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melesville, Anne-Honore-Joseph Duveyrier De 1787 births 1865 deaths Writers from Paris 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French opera librettists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery