Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (13 January 1674 – 17 June 1762) was a French poet and tragedian.[1]
Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon
Biography
Crébillon was born in Dijon, where his father, Melchior Jolyot, was notary-royal. Having been educated at the Jesuit school in the town, and afterwards at the Collège Mazarin. He became an advocate, and was placed in the office of a lawyer named Prieur at Paris. With the encouragement of his master, son of an old friend of Scarron's, he produced a Mort des enfants de Brutus, which was never produced on the stage.[2]
In 1705 he succeeded with Idoménée; in 1707 his Atrée et Thyeste was repeatedly acted at court; Electre appeared in 1709; and in 1711 he produced his finest play, Rhadamiste et Zénobie, considered as his masterpiece despite a complicated and over-involved plot. But his Xerxes (1714) was only performed once and his Sémiramis (1717) was an absolute failure.[2]
In 1707 Crébillon had married a penniless girl, who died, leaving him two young children. His father had also died, insolvent. In three years at court he had gained nothing and aroused considerable envy. Oppressed with melancholy, he moved to a garret, where he surrounded himself with dogs, cats and birds, which he had befriended; he became utterly careless of cleanliness or food, and sought comfort only in smoking.[2]
He returned to the stage in 1726 with a successful play, Pyrrhus. In 1731, despite his long seclusion, he was elected to the Académie française; in 1735 he was appointed royal censor; and in 1745 Madame de Pompadour presented him with a pension of 1000 francs and a post in the royal library. In 1748 his Catilina was performed with great success at court; and in 1754, aged eighty, he presented his last tragedy, Le Triumvirat. His only son Claude was also an author.[2]
Crébillon was considered by many to be superior to Voltaire as a tragic poet. The spirit of rivalry induced Voltaire to take the subjects of no less than five of Crébillon's tragedies (Semiramis, Electre, Catilina, Le Triumviral and Ahreeas), as his own. The so-called Éloge de Crébillon (1762) (the title meant ironically), which appeared in the year of the poet's death, was generally attributed to Voltaire, though he strenuously denied the authorship.[3]
There are numerous editions of his works, among which may be noticed: Œuvres (1772), with preface and éloge, by Joseph de La Porte; Œuvres (1828), containing D'Alembert's Éloge de Crébillon, (1775); and Théâtre complet (1885) with a notice by Auguste Vito. A complete bibliography is given by Maurice Dutrait, in his Étude sur la vie et le théâtre de Crébillon (1895).[4]
References
^The Century Dictionary: The Century cyclopedia of names ... ed. by Benjamin E. Smith ... vol. I. Century Company. 1895. p. 289.
Works by or about Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon at Internet Archive
Works by Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
January 31, 2023
prosper, jolyot, crébillon, january, 1674, june, 1762, french, poet, tragedian, biography, editcrébillon, born, dijon, where, father, melchior, jolyot, notary, royal, having, been, educated, jesuit, school, town, afterwards, collège, mazarin, became, advocate,. Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon 13 January 1674 17 June 1762 was a French poet and tragedian 1 Prosper Jolyot de CrebillonBiography EditCrebillon was born in Dijon where his father Melchior Jolyot was notary royal Having been educated at the Jesuit school in the town and afterwards at the College Mazarin He became an advocate and was placed in the office of a lawyer named Prieur at Paris With the encouragement of his master son of an old friend of Scarron s he produced a Mort des enfants de Brutus which was never produced on the stage 2 In 1705 he succeeded with Idomenee in 1707 his Atree et Thyeste was repeatedly acted at court Electre appeared in 1709 and in 1711 he produced his finest play Rhadamiste et Zenobie considered as his masterpiece despite a complicated and over involved plot But his Xerxes 1714 was only performed once and his Semiramis 1717 was an absolute failure 2 In 1707 Crebillon had married a penniless girl who died leaving him two young children His father had also died insolvent In three years at court he had gained nothing and aroused considerable envy Oppressed with melancholy he moved to a garret where he surrounded himself with dogs cats and birds which he had befriended he became utterly careless of cleanliness or food and sought comfort only in smoking 2 He returned to the stage in 1726 with a successful play Pyrrhus In 1731 despite his long seclusion he was elected to the Academie francaise in 1735 he was appointed royal censor and in 1745 Madame de Pompadour presented him with a pension of 1000 francs and a post in the royal library In 1748 his Catilina was performed with great success at court and in 1754 aged eighty he presented his last tragedy Le Triumvirat His only son Claude was also an author 2 Crebillon was considered by many to be superior to Voltaire as a tragic poet The spirit of rivalry induced Voltaire to take the subjects of no less than five of Crebillon s tragedies Semiramis Electre Catilina Le Triumviral and Ahreeas as his own The so called Eloge de Crebillon 1762 the title meant ironically which appeared in the year of the poet s death was generally attributed to Voltaire though he strenuously denied the authorship 3 There are numerous editions of his works among which may be noticed Œuvres 1772 with preface and eloge by Joseph de La Porte Œuvres 1828 containing D Alembert s Eloge de Crebillon 1775 and Theatre complet 1885 with a notice by Auguste Vito A complete bibliography is given by Maurice Dutrait in his Etude sur la vie et le theatre de Crebillon 1895 4 References Edit The Century Dictionary The Century cyclopedia of names ed by Benjamin E Smith vol I Century Company 1895 p 289 a b c d Chisholm 1911 p 388 Chisholm 1911 pp 388 389 Chisholm 1911 p 389 Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Crebillon Prosper Jolyot de Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 7 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 388 389 External links EditWorks by Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon at Internet Archive Works by Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon at LibriVox public domain audiobooks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon amp oldid 1103263878, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
