Beaumarchais

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (January 24, 1732 – May 17-18, 1799) was a watch-maker, inventor, musician, politician, invalid, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms-dealer, and revolutionary (both French and American). He was best known, however, for his theatrical works, especially the three Figaro plays. Download high resolution version (640x755, 52 KB)This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... Download high resolution version (640x755, 52 KB)This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 23 - First performance of Handels Orlando, in London June 9 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Humble beginnings

Beaumarchais was born "Pierre-Augustin Caron," the only boy among the six children of a watchmaker. The family was comfortable and Caron had a peaceful and happy childhood -- in contrast to his adult life.

Caron left school at the age of 13 to apprentice under his father. A few years later, possibly between 1751 to 1753, he invented an escape mechanism for watches, that allowed them to be made substantially more accurate and compact than watches made up to this point. One of his greatest feats was a watch mounted on a ring, made for Madame de Pompadour, a mistress of Louis XV. The invention was later recognised by the Académie des sciences, but only after a tussle with M. Lepaute, the royal watchmaker, who attempted to pass off the invention as his own. Madame de Pompadour, portrait by François Boucher circa 1750 Madame de Pompadour, (1721 – April 15, 1764) was a well known courtesan and the famous mistress of King Louis XV of France. ... Louis XV of France (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1715 until his death. ... The French Academy of Sciences (Académie des sciences) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. ...

Business, politics, arts, and entertainment

However, his watch-making days were short-lived, as other endeavors soon catapulted him to fame and fortune. In 1758-59, Caron was the harp tutor to King Louis XV's daughters. In 1759-60, Caron met Joseph Pâris-Duverney, an older and wealthy entrepreneur who saw the young Caron as having much business ability. The two became very close friends and collaborated on many business ventures. in 1756-57, shortly after his first marriage, Caron started using the name "Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais", whom he derived from "le Bois Marchais", the name of a piece of land inherited by his first wife.

Generously assisted by Pâris-Duverney, Beaumarchais purchased the office of secretary-councillor to the King in 1760-61, thereby becoming a French noble. In 1763, Beaumarchais purchased a second office, the office of Lieutenant General of Hunting. In 1764, Beaumarchais began a 10 month sojourn in Madrid, supposedly to help his sister, Lisette, who had been abandoned by her fiancé, Clavijo. In fact, he was mostly concerned with striking business deals for Pâris-Duverney. Although Beaumarchais returned to France with little profit, he had managed to acquire new experiences, musical ideas, and, most importantly, ideas for theatrical characters.

Court battles and the American Revolution

On July 17, 1770, his long-time business partner Pâris-Duverney died. Thus beginning a decade of turmoil for Beaumarchais. A few months before his death, the two signed a statement which cancelled all debts Beaumarchais owed Pâris-Duverney (about 75,000 pounds), and granting Beaumarchais the modest sum of 15,000 pounds. Pâris-Duverney's sole heir, the Count de la Blache, jealous over the deceased's relationship with Beaumarchais, took Beaumarchais to court, claiming the signed statement was a forgery. Although the 1772 verdict favoured Beaumarchais, it was overturned on appeal in the following year by a judge, the magistrate Goezman, whose favour La Blache had managed to win over. At the same time, Beaumachais was also involved in a dispute with the Duke de Chaulnes over the Duke's mistress, which resulted in Beaumarchais's being thrown into jail from February to May, 1773. La Blache, taking advantage of Beaumarchais's inability to appear in court, persuaded Goezman to rule that Beaumarchais owed Pâris-Duverney's estate the 75,000 pounds allegedly forgiven, plus interest and court costs, effectively ruining Beaumarchais.

To garner public support, Beaumarchais published a four-part pamphlet entitled Mémoires contre Goezman which made Beaumarchais an instant celebrity -- a champion for social justice and liberty. Goezman countered Beaumarchais's accusations by launching a law suit of his own. The verdict was equivocal. On February 26, 1774, both Beaumarchais and Mme. Goezman (who sympathised with Beaumarchais) were deprived of their civil rights, while Magistrate Goezman was removed from his post. At the same time, Goezman's verdict in the La Blache case was overturned. The Goezman case was so sensational that the judges left the courtroom through a back door to avoid the large, angry mob waiting in front of the court house.

Beaumarchais pledged his services to Louis XV and XVI in order to restore his civil rights. He travelled to London, Amsterdam and Vienna on various secret missions. His first mission was to travel to London to destroy a pamphlet, Les mémoires secrets d'une femme publique, that supposedly libeled one of Louis XV's mistresses, Mme. du Barry. Beaumarchais is most remembered for his essential support for the American Revolution. Louis XVI, who did not want to break openly with England, allowed Beaumarchais to found a commercial enterprise, Roderigue Hortalez and Co., supported by the French and Spanish crowns, whose real purpose was to supply the American rebels with weapons, munitions, clothes, and provisions. For these services, the French Parliament reinstated his civil rights in 1776. John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies that...

The Voltaire revival

Shortly after Voltaire's death in 1778, Beaumarchais set out to publish Voltaire's complete works, many of which were banned in France. He scoured all of Europe for Voltaire's many scattered manuscripts. To evade French censorship, he set up printing presses in Kehl, Germany, and purchased paper mills. Seven volumes were published between 1783 to 1790. While the venture proved a financial failure, Beaumarchais was instrumental in preserving much of Voltaire's later works, which otherwise would have been lost. François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical writings, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial. ... Kehl is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. ...

More court battles and the French Revolution

It was not long before Beaumarchais crossed paths again with the French legal system. In 1787, he became acquainted with Mme. Korman, whose husband had her imprisoned for adultery to expropriate her dowry. In fact, her husband had engineered the adultery to implicate both his wife and the lover. The matter went to court, with Beaumarchais siding with Mme. Korman, and M. Korman assisted by a celebrity lawyer, Nicolas Bergasse. On April 2, 1790, M. Korman and Bergasse were found guilty of calumny (slander), but Beaumarchais's reputation was also tarnished. Nicolas Bergasse (1750 – 1832) was a French lawyer. ...

Meanwhile, the French Revolution broke out. Beaumarchais was no longer the idol he had been a few years before. He was financially successful (mainly from supplying drinking water to Paris) and had acquired rank in the French nobility. In 1791, he took up a lavish residence across from the Bastille. He spent under a week in prison during August 1792, and was released only three days before a massacre took place in the prison where he had been detained. i heart kate young The French Revolution was a period of major political and social change in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to... The Bastille The Bastille ( ) was a prison in Paris, known formally as Bastille Saint-Antoine—Number 232, Rue Saint-Antoine—best known today because of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, which along with the Tennis Court Oath is considered the beginning of the French Revolution. ... The September Massacres were a wave of mob violence which took place in Paris in late summer 1792, during the French Revolution. ...

Nevertheless, he pledged his services to the new Republic. He attempted to purchase 60,000 rifles for the Revolutionary army from Holland, but was unable to complete the deal. While he was out of the country, Beaumarchais was declared an émigré (loyalists to the old regime) by his enemies. He spent two and a half years in exile, mostly in Germany, before his name was removed from the list of proscribed émigrés. He returned to Paris in 1796, where he lived out the remainder of his life in relative peace. He is buried in the Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Émigré is a French term that shows how Martin B. loves stephanie. ... Père Lachaise - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

Private life

Beaumarchais married thrice. His first wife was Madeleine-Catherine Franquet (née Aubertin), whom he married on November 22, 1756, but died of mysterious circumstances only 10 months after. He later married Genevièfve-Madeleine Lévêque (née Wattebled) in 1768. Again, the second Mme. de Beaumarchais died of mysterious circumstances two years later, though most scholars believed she actually suffered from tuberculosis. Beaumarchais had a son, Augustin, in 1770, only eight months after his second marriage, but he also died in 1772. Beaumarchais lived with his lover, Marie-Thérèse de Willer-Mawlaz, for twelve years, and had a daughter, Eugénie, before she became Beaumarchais's third wife, in 1786. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for Tubercle Bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by the mycobacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Mycobacterium bovis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system, lymphatic system, circulatory system, genitourinary system, bones, joints, and even the...

In his first two marriages, Beaumarchais was accused -- mainly by his enemies -- of poisoning them in order to lay claim to their family inheritance. Beaumarchais, though having no shortage of love interests, was known to marry for financial gain. Both Franquet and Lévêque were previously married to wealthy families prior to their marriage to Beaumarchais. While there was insufficient physical evidence to support the accusations, and that he was also known to be very caring for his family and close friends. Whether or not the poisonings took place is still subject of debate.

The Figaro plays

Beaumarchais's Figaro plays comprise Le Barbier de Séville, Le Mariage de Figaro, and La Mère coupable. They were some of the most important French plays, for the trilogy spans the most turbulent period of French history. Figaro and Count Almaviva, the two characters Beaumarchais most likely conceived in his travels in Spain, were (with Rosine, later the Countess Almaviva) the only ones present in all three plays. They are indicative of the change in social attitudes before, during, and after the French Revolution. The two began in a formal master-and-servant (albeit light hearted) relationship, in Le Barbier; the two became rivals over Suzanne in Le Mariage, a personification of class struggle in pre-revolutionary France; and they finally join hands again to thwart the evil schemes of Bégearss, an attempt to call for reconciliation in La Mère. Further, Beaumarchais also dubbed La Mère "The Other Tartuffe", to pay homage to the great French playwright Molière, who wrote the original Tartuffe. Le Barbier de Séville is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, also called Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. ... The Marriage of Figaro (French: Le Mariage de Figaro or La Folle Journée) is a comedy in five acts, written in 1778 by Pierre Beaumarchais. ... The Guilty Mother (La Mère coupable) subtitled The Other Tartuffe is the third play of the Figaro Trilogy by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais. ... Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière, and is one of the most famous French plays of all time. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière, and is one of the most famous French plays of all time. ...

Beaumarchais's characters of Figaro and Almaviva first appeared in his Le Sacritan, which he wrote around 1765 and dubbed "an interlude, imitating the Spanish style." His fame began, however, with his first dramatic play (drame bourgeois), Eugénie, which premiered at the Comédie Française in 1767. This was followed in 1770 by another drama, Les Deux amis. Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick, 9th Countess de Teba, who became Empress Eugénie (May 5, 1826 – July 11, 1920) was Empress Consort of France (1853-1870), the wife of Napoléon III. The last Empress of France was born in Granada, Spain to... Comédie-Française, late 18th century Interior view, late 18th century The Comédie-Française or Théâtre Français is the only state theater in France. ...

To a lesser degree, the Figaro plays are semi-autobiographical. Don Guzman Brid'oison (Le Mariage) and Bégearss (La Mère) were caricatures of two of Beaumarchais's real-life adversaries, Goezman and Bergasse. The page Chérubin (Le Mariage) resembled the youthful Beaumarchais, who did contemplate suicide when his love was to marry another. Suzanne, the heroine of Le Mariage and La Mère, was modelled after Beaumarchais's third wife, Marie-Thérèse de Willer-Mawlaz. Meanwhile, some of the Count monologues reflect on the playwright's remorse of his numerous sexual exploits.

Le Barbier premiered in 1775. Its sequel Le Mariage was initially passed by the censor in 1781, but was soon banned from performance by Louis XVI after a private reading. The King was unhappy with the play's satire on the aristocracy. Over the next three years Beaumarchais gave many private readings of the play, as well as making revisions to try to pass the censor. The King lifted the ban in 1784. The play premiered that year and was enormously popular even with aristocratic audiences. Mozart's opera premiered just two years later. Beaumarchais's final play, La mère was premiered in 1792 in Paris. All three plays enjoyed great success, and they are still frequently performed today, in theatres and opera houses.

List of works

• 1760s - Various one-act comedies (parades) for private staging
  • Les Député de la Halle et du Gros-Caillou
  • Colin et Colette
  • Les Bottes de sept lieues
  • Jean Bête à la foire
  • Œil pour œil
  • Laurette
• 1765(?) - Le Sacristan, interlude (precursor to Le Barbier de Séville)
• 1767 - Eugénie, drama, primered at the Comédie Française
• 1767 - L'Essai sur le genre dramatique sérieux
• 1770 - Les Deux amis ou le Négociant de Lyon, drama, premiered at the Comédie Française
• 1773 - Le Barbier de Séville ou la Précaution inutile, comedy, premiered in Jan. 3, 1775 at the Comédie Française
• 1774 - Mémoires contre Goezman
• 1775 - La Lettre modérée sur la chute et la critique du «Barbier de Sérville»
• 1778 - La Folle journée ou Le Mariage de Figaro, comedy, premiered in Arp. 27, 1784 at the Comédie Française
• 1784 - Préface du mariage de Figaro
• 1787 - Tarare, opera with music by Antonio Salieri, premiered at the Opéra de Paris (full-text)
• 1792 - La Mère coupable ou L'Autre Tartuffe (The Guilty Mother), drama, premiered Jun. 26 at the Théâtre du Marais
• 1799 - Voltaire et Jésus-Christ, in two articles

Le Barbier de Séville is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, also called Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. ... Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick, 9th Countess de Teba, who became Empress Eugénie (May 5, 1826 – July 11, 1920) was Empress Consort of France (1853-1870), the wife of Napoléon III. The last Empress of France was born in Granada, Spain to... Comédie-Française, late 18th century Interior view, late 18th century The Comédie-Française or Théâtre Français is the only state theater in France. ... Comédie-Française, late 18th century Interior view, late 18th century The Comédie-Française or Théâtre Français is the only state theater in France. ... Le Barbier de Séville is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, also called Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. ... Comédie-Française, late 18th century Interior view, late 18th century The Comédie-Française or Théâtre Français is the only state theater in France. ... The Marriage of Figaro (French: Le Mariage de Figaro or La Folle Journée) is a comedy in five acts, by Pierre Beaumarchais written in 1778. ... Comédie-Française, late 18th century Interior view, late 18th century The Comédie-Française or Théâtre Français is the only state theater in France. ... Tarare is an opera by Antonio Salieri, after a play by Beaumarchais. ... Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (August 18, 1750 – May 7, 1825), born in Legnago, Italy, was a composer and conductor, as well as one of the most important and famous musicians of his time. ... Front of the Palais Garnier under winter sun, photography by Eric Pouhier Opéra National de Paris is the leading opera company of France. ... Summary The third play of the Figaro Trilogy by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais, rarely revived these days, is called The Guilty Mother (La mere coupable). ... The Théâtre du Marais has been the name of several theatres and theatre troupes in Paris, France. ...

Listing of related works

• 1786 - Le nozze di Figaro, opera based on the title play, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte and music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• 1782 - Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile, music by Giovanni Paisiello, revised in 1787
• 1796 - Il barbiere di Siviglia, opera based on the title play, music by Nicholas Isouard
• 1816 - Il barbiere di Siviglia, opera based on the title play, libretto by Pietro Sterbini, and music by Giacchino Rossini
• 1905 - Chérubin, opera based on the title role, music by Jules Massenet. libretto by unknown authorship
• 1950 - Beaumarchais, comedy written by Sacha Guitry
• 1966 - La Mère coupable, opera based on the title play, music and libretto by Darius Milhaud
• 1991 - The Ghosts of Versailles, opera based loosely on La Mère coupable, music by John Corigliano, libretto by William M. Hoffman.
• 1991 - Den brottsliga modern, opera based on La Mère coupable, music by Inger Wikström, libretto by Inger Wikström and Mikaael Hylin.
• 1996 - Beaumarchais l'insolent, film based on Guitry's play, directed by Édouard Molinaro

Le Nozze di Figaro, is a comic opera composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Beaumarchais. ... Lorenzo da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (March 10, 1749–August 17, 1838) was an Italian librettist born in Ceneda (now Vittorio Veneto). ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... The Barber of Seville is a theatre play by Beaumarchais, written in 1775, and originally entitled Le Barbier de Séville in French. ... Paisiello at the clavichord, by Marie Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1791. ... Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Chérubin is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Francis de Croisset and Henri Cain after de Croissets play of the same name. ... Jules (Émile Frédéric) Massenet (May 12, 1842 – August 13, 1912) was a French composer. ... Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (January 24, 1732 - May 18, 1799) was, among other accomplishments, a writer and librettist. ... Sacha Guitry, born February 21, 1885 in St. ... The Guilty Mother (La Mère coupable) subtitled The Other Tartuffe is the third play of the Figaro Trilogy by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais. ... Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (September 4, 1892 – June 22, 1974) was a French composer and teacher. ... The Ghosts of Versailles is an opera in two acts by John Corigliano to an English libretto by William M. Hoffman, suggested by the play La Mère coupable (The Guilty Mother) by Pierre Beaumarchais. ... The Guilty Mother (La Mère coupable) subtitled The Other Tartuffe is the third play of the Figaro Trilogy by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais. ... John Corigliano (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of classical music. ... William M. Hoffman (born 1939) is an American playwright, editor, and educator. ... The Guilty Mother (La Mère coupable) subtitled The Other Tartuffe is the third play of the Figaro Trilogy by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais. ... Édouard Molinaro (b. ...

Further reading

• "Beaumarchais and the American Revolution" by Brian N. Morton
• "From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life - 1500 to Present" by Jacques Barzun
• "Beaumarchais: Le Mariage de Figaro - comédie", with preface, biography, and annotations by Pol Gillard, Bordas, 1970.
• "Beaumarchais: The three Figaro plays", translation and notes by David Edney, Doverhouse, 2000.
• "Proud destiny" by Lion Feuchtwanger, a novel based mainly on Beaumarchais and Benjamin Franklin, and their involvement in the American Revolution, Viking, 1947.

Jacques Martin Barzun (born November 30, 1907 - 2005) continues to be a leading voice in the fields of literature, education, and cultural history. ... Lion Feuchtwanger (pseudonym: J.L. Wetcheek) (7 July 1884 - 21 December 1958) was a German-Jewish novelist who was imprisoned in a French internment camp in Les Milles and later escaped to Los Angeles with the help of his wife, Marta. ... Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most well known Founding Fathers of the United States. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies that...

External Links

• "The Insolent"

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Pierre Beaumarchais