Louise-Françoise Contat (16 June 1760 – 9 March 1813) was a French

actress 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. ...

Biography

She was born in Paris and made her debut at the Comédie Française in 1766 as Atalide in '' Bajazet''. It was in comedy, however, that she made her first success, as Suzanne in

Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French playwright and diplomat during the Age of Enlightenment. Best known for his three Figaro plays, at various times in his life he was also a watchmaker, invent ...

's ''

Mariage de Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

''; and in several minor character parts, which she raised to the first importance, and as the ''

soubrette A soubrette is a female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means " ...

'' in the plays 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

Pierre de Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (; ; 4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. Marivaux is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, w ...

, she found opportunities exactly fitted to her talents. By

Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara Louis Marie Jacques Amalric, comte de Narbonne-Lara (August 1755 – 17 November 1813) was a French nobleman, soldier and diplomat. Born at Colorno in the Duchy of Parma, Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara, was possibly the illegitimate son of King L ...

(17, 23 or 24 August 1755 – 17 November 1813), soldier and diplomat, she had one daughter Louise Amalrique Bathilde Isidore Contat de Narbonne-Lara, born at

Saint Pierre de Chaillot In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Ortho ...

, Paris, on 21 September 1788, who married in Paris on 2 December 1811 Dutch Jan Frederik Abbema, born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

on 13 June 1773, and had one son Émile, vicomte d' Abbéma, who had an only daughter by his wife Henriette Anne d'Astoin named

Louise Abbéma Louise Abbéma (30 October 185329 July 1927) was a French painter, sculptor, and designer of the Belle Époque. Biography Abbéma was born in Étampes, Essonne. She was born into a wealthy Parisian family, who were well connected in the local ...

(

Étampes Étampes () is a Communes of France, commune in the functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a Subprefectures in ...

, 30 October 1853 – Paris, 4 August 1927). Bouillet writes of her "She played comedy to perfection and made people remark on the flexibility of her talent, succeeding equally as grandes coquettes and as soubrettes". She was part of the success of the plays of

Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (; ; 4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. Marivaux is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, w ...

and Beaumarchais. She left the theatre in 1808, and in 1809 married de Parny, nephew of the poet

Évariste de Parny Évariste Desiré de Forges, vicomte de Parny (6 February 17535 December 1814) was a French Rococo poet. Biography De Parny was born in Saint-Paul on the Isle of Bourbon (now Réunion); he came from an aristocratic family from the region of ...

. Her sister

Marie Émilie Contat Marie may refer to the following. People Given name * Marie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** List of people named Marie * Marie (Japanese given name) Surname * Jean Gabriel-Marie, French compo ...

(1769–1846), an admirable ''soubrette'', especially as the pert servant drawn by Molière and de Regnard, made her debut in 1784, and retired, in 1815.

References

External links

Louise Contat and her rôles
on CESAR {{DEFAULTSORT:Contat, Louise Actresses from Paris 1760 births 1813 deaths 18th-century French actresses French stage actresses Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery

Biography

See also

References

External links