Jean-Nicolas Servandoni, stage name D'Hannetaire, (3 November 1718 - 1 January 1780) was a French actor and theatre director.
Life
He was born in
Grenoble
Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
, the son of the
Florentine painter Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (also known as Jean-Nicolas Servandoni) and his wife Marie-Josèphe Gravier, known for his façade for the
église Saint-Sulpice in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. D'Hannetaire seems to have begun his acting career in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, around 1740. He played at the château d'Arolsen, for the prince of
Waldeck, around 1743 and was in
Aix-la-Chapelle
Aachen is the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants.
Aachen is located at the northern foothills of the High Fens and the Eifel Mountains. It sits on the Wurm Riv ...
in 1744, from whence he arrived in
Liège
Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
around the end of the year. In November he presented a ''Divertissement nouveau de chants et de danses'' for prince-bishop
Jean-Théodore of Bavaria and, also whilst in Liège, married the comic-actor Marguerite-Antoinette Huet (stage name Mademoiselle Danicourt) on 17 February 1745. The couple arrived in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in October 1745 and D'Hannetaire took up leadership of the
Théâtre de la Monnaie
The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...
, from which he was dislodged four months later by
Favart. He and his wife integrated into the troupe of
maréchal de Saxe and he once again took direction of the theatre on the departures of the French troupes at the end of 1748.
He then played at
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
and
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, then made his debut at the
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...
on 27 April 1752 in the rôle of Orgon in ''
Tartuffe
''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...
''. However, he preferred to return to Brussels, in
Durancy's troupe, in which he was entrusted "les rôles à manteaux" and "les rôles de Crispin". In 1755 he took over from Durancy as head of this troupe, and stayed so until 1771, sometimes alone, sometimes in association with other actors.
D'Hannetaire and his wife had 8 children, 2 of whom also became notable actors :
*
Eugénie (1746–1816), married the comic-actor
Larive, it was to her that the
prince de Ligne dedicated his ''Lettres à Eugénie sur les spectacles'' (1774)
*
Angélique (1749–1822), mistress of vicomte Desandrouins, then of the same prince de Ligne.
In 1768, he renounced acting to become a
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 distin ...
, in the historic context of the
excommunication of actors "in virtue of an old usage of comedy". Nevertheless, he continued to act at Brussels for several years, before having to retire until his death in Brussels.
Works
*''Observations sur l'Art du Comédien, et sur d'autres objets concernant cette Profession en général'', known in 8 editions, at first anonymous, then under the pseudonym ''Dhannetaire'' (1772, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1778 and 1800).
Sources
* Henri Liebrecht, ''Comédiens français d'autrefois à Bruxelles'', Paris, Bruxelles, Labor, 1932. See chapter II, "Un comédien grand seigneur : Jean Nicolas Servandoni D'Hannetaire, seigneur d'Haeren".
* Carlo Bronne, ''Financiers et comédiens au XVIIIe siècle'', Ed. Goemaere, Bruxelles, 1969.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannetaire
1718 births
1780 deaths
Male actors from Grenoble
Directors of La Monnaie
Actors from the Austrian Netherlands
18th-century French male actors