Jean-Baptiste Fauchard (19 March 1737,

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 ...

– 24 May 1816, Paris), stage name Grandmesnil or Grand-Ménil), was a French actor and playwright.

Life

At first a lawyer in the

parliament of Paris The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...

, then a counsellor in the Admiralty, he spoke out against the Parlement Maupeou and left France in 1771. Taking refuge 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 ...

, he gave himself over the theatrical interests he had always had and appeared in several servant roles. Returning to France some years later, he acted in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and then in

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 ...

, where he played financiers and "rôles à manteau". On 31 August 1790, he made his début 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 ...

(becoming a societaire of it in 1792), from which he retired on 21 March 1811. Grandmesnil was noted as one of the best interpreters of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

and particularly excelled in the rôles of Arnolphe and Harpagon. The distinction of his manners and the constant regularity of his lifestyle were highly valued and in 1796 he was summoned to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

on its formation, in the Literature and Fine Arts classe.

Works

Grandmesnil wrote two plays, although they may have never been performed in his lifetime. * ''Le Savetier joyeux'' (1759) * ''Tant pis pour elles, tant pis pour eux et tant mieux pour eux, tant mieux pour elles, ou le Voyage impromptu'' (1760)

Sources

Gustave Vapereau Louis Gustave Vapereau (4 April 1819 – 18 April 1906) was a French writer and lexicographer famous primarily for his dictionaries, the ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'' and the ''Dictionnaire universel des littérateurs''. Biography ...

, ''Dictionnaire universel des littératures'', Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 923

External links

His works and productions of them
on th
CÉSAR
site

Life

Works

Sources

External links

See also