Julius Roderich Benedix (21 January 1811 – 26 September 1873) was a German dramatist and librettist, born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, where he was educated there at

Thomasschule St. Thomas School, Leipzig (german: Thomasschule zu Leipzig; la, Schola Thomana Lipsiensis) is a co-educational and public boarding school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools ...

. He joined the stage in 1831, his first engagement being with the travelling company of H. E. Bethmann in Dessau, Köthen,

Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle. Geography The town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeburg ...

and Meiningen. Subsequently he was

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

in several theatres in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

and on the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, and became manager of the theatre at

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighove ...

, where he produced a comedy, ''Das bemooste Haupt'' (1841), which met with great success. After an engagement in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, he managed the new theatre at

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a doc ...

(1844-1845) and in 1849 was appointed teacher on the staff of the Rhenish school of music in Cologne. In 1855 he was appointed intendant of the municipal theatre in

Frankfurt-on-Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...

, but retired in 1861, and died in Leipzig in 1873. Benedix's comedies, the scenes of which are mostly laid in upper middle-class life, still enjoy some popularity; the best-known are: ''Dr. Wespe; Die Hochzeitsreise; Der Vetter; Das Lügen; Ein Lustspiel; Das Gefängnis; Der Störenfried; Die Dienstboten; Aschenbrödel''; and ''Die zärtlichen Verwandten''. The chief characteristics of his farces are a clear plot and bright, easy and natural dialogue. Among his more serious works are: ''Bilder aus dem Schauspielerleben'' (Leipzig, 1847); ''Der mündliche Vortrag'' (Leipzig, 1859-1860); ''Das Wesen des deutschen Rhythmus'' (Leipzig, 1862) and, posthumously, ''Die Shakespearomanie'' (1873), in which he attacks the extreme adoration of the British poet. Benedix's ''Gesammelte dramatische Werke'' ("Collected Dramatic Works") appeared in 27 vols. (Leipzig, 1846-1875); a selection under the title ''Volkstheater'' in 20 vols. (Leipzig, 1882); and a collection of smaller comedies as ''Haustheater'' in 2 vols. (l0th ed., Leipzig, 1891); see Benedix's autobiography in the ''Gartenlaube'' for 1871.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedix, Roderich 1811 births 1873 deaths People educated at the St. Thomas School, Leipzig Writers from Leipzig People from the Kingdom of Saxony German male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers