Bernard-Joseph Saurin

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Bernard-Joseph Saurin (* 1706 in Paris , † November 17, 1781 in Paris) was a French lawyer , poet and playwright .

Bernard-Joseph Saurin Anonymous copper engraving, 18th century.
Portrait of Louis Carrogis, called Carmontelle , 1761. Chantilly , Musée Condé .

Life

Saurin was the son of Joseph Saurin , a converted Protestant pastor and mathematician who was accused in 1712 by Jean-Baptiste Rousseau of being the actual author of defamatory verses, but this was due to a gossip by Rousseau.

Attracted by literature and frequenting the Society of Caveau, he became a lawyer in Parliament, a career he disliked but endured for 15 years to support his family. His professional life in the theater began when he was 40.

Neither his comedy Les Trois Rivaux ( The three rivals ) nor its successful tragedy Amenhotep that in 1760 with the tragedy Spartacus and the comedy Les Moeurs du temps appeared (The manners of the time), was applauded at the Comédie-Française rewarded . The following year the author became a member of the French Academy .

He visited the literary cafes and salons of Madame de Staël , Mme de Tencin , Madame Geoffrin and Madame d'Épinay . Friend of Voltaire , Saint-Lambert , Montesquieu , Turgot and Helvétius , he could be considered one of the philosophers.

He translated some English works into French and saw some of his works translated into English again. Known among the better of his plays was Béverlei (1768), a tragedy.

Act

theatre

The works are listed chronologically and contain links to the text in Gallica an der Bibliothèque nationale de France , if available:

  • Aménophis , a tragedy that premiered at the Comédie-Française on November 12, 1752
  • Spartacus , a tragedy that premiered at the Comédie-Française on February 20, 1760 and repeated in February 1772 and August 20, 1818
  • Les Mœurs du temps , a prose comedy in one act that premiered at the Comédie-Française on December 22, 1760 (it was repeated 69 times between 1760 and 1785)
  • Blanche et Guiscard , in imitation of the English comedy Tancred and Sigismunda by James Thomson, was first performed on September 25, 1763 at the Comédie-Française
  • L'Orpheline léguée , a comedy in three acts in free verse, Fontainebleau , Comédiens français ordinaires du Roi, November 5, 1765, Paris, November 6, 1765
  • Béverlei , in imitation of the English tragedy The Gamester by Edward Moore, in five acts and in free verse, Paris, Comédiens français, 7 May 1768
  • L'Anglomane, or l'Orpheline léguée , a comedy in one act and in free verse, Fontainebleau, Comédiens français, November 5, 1772, Paris, November 23, 1772
  • Sophie Francourt , a prose comedy in four acts, Paris, Comédiens italiens ordinaires du Roi, February 18, 1783

literature

  • Martin Mühle: Bernard-Joseph Saurin: His life and works. Fahdt Brothers, Princeton 1913

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rousseau was persecuted for defamation of character and sentenced to perpetual exile.
personal data
SURNAME Saurin, Bernard-Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French lawyer, poet and playwright
DATE OF BIRTH 1706
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 1781
Place of death Paris