Ferdinand August Dessoir, born Anton August Ferdinand Dessauer (January 29, 1836, Breslau – April 15, 1892,

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

) was a German

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He was the son of Leopold Dessauer (1810-1874) and Leopold's first wife Therese Dessoir (née Reimann) (1810-1866). Leopold and Therese were married in 1835, but they separated only a year later in 1836. Ferdinand was trained for the stage by Werner Mannheim, and made his début in 1852 as the Prince in ''Dorf und Stadt.'' In the following year he went to

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, where he remained until 1855, when he appeared at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

was his next engagement, in 1856; followed in 1857 by

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

; 1857–61,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

; 1861–63,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

; 1863–64,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. From 1864 to 1867 he played at the Hoftheater in Berlin; after which he returned to Weimar, in 1868. He next went to the Lobetheater in Breslau, in 1868–69. The following seven years were spent at the Hoftheater, Dresden; from 1877 to 1878 at the Thalia Theater in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

; from 1878 to 1879 at the Residenz Theater in Dresden; and in 1880 he played at

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Dessauer became insane during a performance, and never acted again. His principal roles were Kaufmann Bloom,

Mephisto Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition. Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Méphisto'', a 1931 French film * Mephisto (1981 film), ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a Germa ...

, Falstaff, Muley Hassan, Riccaut, Chalisac, and Hans Lange.

References

* 1836 births 1892 deaths Male actors from the Kingdom of Prussia German male stage actors Male actors from Wrocław Actors from the Province of Silesia 19th-century German male actors {{Germany-stage-actor-stub