Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon
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Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (13 January 1674 – 17 June 1762) was a French
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
and
tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
.


Biography

Crébillon was born in
Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...
, where his father, Melchior Jolyot, was
notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...
-royal. Having been educated at the
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
school in the town, and afterwards at the Collège Mazarin. He became an
advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
, 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 Paul Scarron (c. 1 July 1610 in Paris – 6 October 1660 in Paris) (a.k.a. Monsieur Scarron) was a French poet, dramatist, and novelist, born in Paris. Though his precise birth date is unknown, he was baptized on 4 July 1610. Scarron was the fi ...
's, he produced a ''Mort des enfants de
Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
'', which was never produced on the stage. In 1705 he succeeded with ''
Idoménée ''Idoménée'' (English: ''Idomeneus'') is an opera by the French composer André Campra. It takes the form of a ''tragédie en musique'' in a prologue and five acts. ''Idoménée'' was first performed on 12 January 1712 by the Académie royale de ...
''; 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. 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 Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
. 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
; in 1735 he was appointed royal censor; and in 1745
Madame de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
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 Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...
was also an author. Crébillon was considered by many to be superior to
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
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. There are numerous editions of his works, among which may be noticed: ''Œuvres'' (1772), with preface and ''éloge'', by
Joseph de La Porte Joseph de La Porte, (baptised 19 January 1714 in Belfort – died 19 December 1779) was an 18th-century French priest, literary critic, poet and playwright. A member of the Society of Jesus, abbot de La Porte first worked to some periodical publi ...
; ''Œuvres'' (1828), containing
D'Alembert Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''Encyclopédie ...
'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).


References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crebillon, Prosper Jolyot de Writers from Dijon 1674 births 1762 deaths University of Paris alumni Members of the Académie Française 18th-century French poets 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights 18th-century French male writers