Alphonsine

Jeanne Benoît, Alphonsine

Alphonsine Fleury , known as Alphonsine , real name Jeanne Benoît , married Margaine (* 1829 in Paris , † July 12, 1883 in Asnières-sur-Seine ), was a French actress.

biography

All that is known about Alphonsine's family is that her mother was a florist near the opera. Alphonsine had to work as a child and was a living part of the staffage in a toy store, disguised as a bridesmaid. She gained her first stage experience at the age of six at the Gymnase-Enfantin . At the age of 15 she had her first roles in the Petit Lazari and in the course of her success she was successful in 1847 at the Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques in the world premiere of La Bouquetière du Marché des innocents .

Alphonsine remained loyal to this theater for a few years, but in 1854, after a brief interlude at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin , moved to the Théâtre de la Gaîté , where she enjoyed great success. After all, she reached the first high point of her career at the Théâtre des Variétés , where she was the leading actress for six years.

During her time at the Variétés, she married the painter Margaine. He took care of Alphonsine, waited in front of the stage exit every evening and made it possible for Alphonsine to lead a middle-class life, with trips to Joinville-le-Pont or Asnières-sur-Seine , where she later settled.

In 1867 she accepted an engagement at the Théâtre du Châtelet , but all of her acting skills, which had previously been so valued, did not arrive and so she moved to the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in 1868 , where she would also stay for five years. Alphonsine then experienced the culmination of her career at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell in Alexandre Dumas ' play Monsieur Alphonse , in which she performed Madame Guichard .

Leading roles in world premieres (excerpt)

• the Pouponnetta in Les sept merveilles du monde by Eugène Grangé , 1853 at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
• the Princesse Castorina in Les cinq cent diables by Adolphe d'Ennery , 1854 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté
• the Trombinette in La Tour de Nesle à Pont-à-Mousson by Louis François Clairville , 1861 at the Théâtre des Variétés
• the Césarine in Un mari dans du coton by Lambert-Thiboust , 1865 at the Théâtre des Variétés
• the Antonina in Le dossier de Rosafol by Eugène Labiche , 1869 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal
• the pure indigo in La pure indigo by Adolphe Jaime , 1875 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance
• Madame Guichard in Monsieur Alphonse by Alexandre Dumas, 1878 at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell

literature

• Henry Lyonnet : Dictionnaire des comédiens français, ceux d'hier , 1912, volume 1, p. 23ff., Digitized
• Le Tintamarre: Le Trombinoscope: Alponsine , edition of March 12, 1876, p. 4f., Digitized

Web links

• Information on Alphonsine in the database of the Bibliothèque nationale de France .
• Literature by and about Alphonsine in the WorldCat bibliographic database