
Victor-Joseph Étienne, called de Jouy (; 19 October 17644 September 1846), 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 ...
who abandoned an early military career for a successful literary one.
Life
De Jouy was born at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of ÃŽle-de-France, ÃŽle-de-France region in Franc ...
in 1764. At the age of eighteen he received a commission in the army, and sailed for
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
in the company of the governor of
Guiana
The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectiv ...
. He returned almost immediately to France to complete his studies, and re-entered the service two years later. He was sent to India, and many of the events there were afterwards turned to literary account.
His literary contemporary
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...
records in his book ''Memoirs of an Egoist'' one such violent action, of rape. He writes, "One day in India he
e Jouy
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plu ...
and two or three friends went into a temple to escape the dreadful heat. There they found the priestess, a kind of Vestal Virgin. M. de Jouy found it amusing to maker her unfaithful to Brahma on the very altar of her god. The Indians realised what had happened, came running up in arms, cut the wrists and then the head off the vestal virgin, and cut in half the officer who was a chum of the author of ''
Sylla'' who, after the death of his friend, managed to climb onto a horse and is still galloping."
On the outbreak of the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
he returned to France and served with distinction in the early campaigns, attaining the rank of adjutant-general. He drew suspicion on himself, however, by refusing to honor the toast of
Marat, and had to flee for his life.
At the fall of
the Terror
The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to ...
he resumed his commission but again fell under suspicion, being accused of treasonable correspondence with the English envoy,
James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury
James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury (21 April 1746 – 21 November 1820), was an English diplomat.
Early life (1746–1768)
Born at Salisbury, the son of James Harris, an MP and the author of ''Hermes'', and Elizabeth Clarke of Sandford, Som ...
who had been sent to France to negotiate terms of peace. He was acquitted of this charge, but, weary of repeated attacks, resigned his position on the pretext of his numerous wounds.
At some point de Jouy married the British born daughter of the novelist
Lady Mary Hamilton who had moved to France with
George Robinson Hamilton.
De Jouy now turned his attention to literature, and produced in 1807 with immense success the libretto for
Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 177424 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor from the classical era. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French ''opera'', and ...
's opera ''
La vestale''. The piece ran for a hundred nights, and owing in part to its
libretto
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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
, was characterized by the
Institut de 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 ...
as the best lyric drama of the day. Other opera librettos followed, including Spontini's ''Fernand Cortez'' and
Cherubini's ''Abencérages'', but none obtained so great a success. From 1811 to 1814 he published in the weekly ''
Gazette de France
(), originally , was the first weekly magazine published in France. It was founded by Théophraste Renaudot and published its first edition on 30 May 1631. It progressively became the mouthpiece of one royalist faction, the Legitimists. Pascal O ...
'' a series of satirical sketches of Parisian life, later collected under the title of ''L'Ermite de la Chaussée d'Antin, ou observations sur les moeurs et les usages français au commencement du xixe siècle'' (1812–1814, 5 vols.), which was warmly received
and made his name as a journalist; he contributed to ''Le Nain jaune'', ''
La Minerve française'', ''Le Miroir'', ''Pandore'' and ''L'Observateur''. Étienne de Jouy was also one of the founders of the ''Biographie nouvelle des contemporains'', who encouraged contributions from the young journalist
François Buloz whom he had employed in his chemical factory and who would have a distinguished career guiding the ''
Revue des deux mondes''.
In 1821 his tragedy of ''Sylla'' gained a triumph due in part to the genius of the actor
Talma, who had studied the title-rôle from
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 ...
; it opened 27 December 1821 at the
Théâtre-Français. Under the Restoration Jouy consistently fought for the cause of freedom, and if his work was overrated by his contemporaries, they were probably influenced by their respect for the author himself. He died in rooms set apart for his use in the
Château de St Germain-en-Laye, 4 September 1846.
Works
Some of the most notable out of the long list of his opera librettos, tragedies and miscellaneous writings are:
*''
Milton'' (1804), opera, in collaboration with
A.-M. Dieulafoy, music by
Spontini
*''
La Vestale'' (1807), opera, music by Spontini
*''
Fernand Cortez'' (1809), opera, in collaboration with
J.-A. Esménard, music by Spontini
*''
Les amazones, ou La fondation de Thèbes'' (1811), opera, music by
Étienne Méhul
Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 22 June 1763 – 18 October 1817) was a French composer of the late Classical period (music), classical and early Romantic period (music), romantic periods. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France ...
*''Tippo Saeb'',
[ Tippoo Sahib (1750–1799) was the sultan of Mysore who had recently defied the British in Inmdia.] tragedy (1813)
*''
Les Abencérages, ou L'étendard de Grenade'' (1813), opera, music by
Cherubini
*''Belisaire'', tragedy (1818)
*''Les Hermites en prison'' (1823), written in collaboration with
Antoine Jay, like himself a political prisoner
*''
Moïse et Pharaon'' (1827), opera, with
Luigi Balocchi, music by
Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...
*''
Guillaume Tell
William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for Shooting an apple off one's child's head, shooting an apple off his son's head.
According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a cro ...
'' (1829), opera, with
Hippolyte Bis, music by Rossini.
See also
* ''
Badaud''
Notes
References
*Michel Faul, ''Les aventures militaires, littéraires et autres d'Etienne de Jouy'' (Editions Seguier, France) March 2009, )
External links
Étienne de Jouyon
Data.bnf.fr
Site on Étienne de Jouy and his biography (French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jouy, Victor-Joseph Etienne De
Writers from Versailles
1764 births
1846 deaths
18th-century French dramatists and playwrights
19th-century French dramatists and playwrights
French opera librettists
Members of the Académie Française