Luigi Riccoboni (1 April 1676 – 6 December 1753)"Riccoboni, Luigi" Notice d'autorité personne
at the BnF website. was an Italian actor and writer on theatre, who was director of the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne () or Théâtre-Italien () are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were ''commedia dell'arte'' companies ...

in Paris from 1716 to 1731. In France he was known as Louis Riccoboni and his stage name was Lélio.Forman 2010, pp. 150–151.

Early life and career

Born Luigi Andrea Riccoboni in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, he was the son of Antonio Riccoboni, who played

Pantalone Pantalone (), spelled Pantaloon in English, is one of the most important principal characters found in commedia dell'arte. With his exceptional greed and status at the top of the social order, Pantalone is "money" in the ''commedia'' world. His ...

in London in 1678–1679. In 1699 Luigi Riccoboni established a ''

commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

'' troupe in the French style in northern Italy, since in his view the Italian tradition had become overly decadent.Senelick 1995b. He also translated some of 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

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tra ...

into Italian.

Paris

In the spring of 1716 the French

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

, Philippe d'Orléans, asked his cousin, the

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a List of historic states of Italy, historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese, Du ...

, to send him a troupe of Italian actors to revive the

in Paris, which had been disbanded nearly twenty years previous. To avoid some of the difficulties of the earlier troupe, he specified that its leader should be a man of good character and manners. Riccoboni was chosen, and in a few weeks he assembled a group of ten actors, all of whom were devout Christians. The troupe was meant to perform in the Hôtel de Bourgogne, which had been vacant since 1697, but that theatre needed renovation, so they initially played at the

Théâtre du Palais-Royal The Théâtre du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history O ...

on days when the

Opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most co ...

was not performing. Even after moving to the Bourgogne, the troupe continued to perform at the Palais-Royal on Mondays and Saturdays until the death of the Regent in 1723. As a director, Riccoboni initially had difficulty retaining audiences with improvised plays in Italian. More and more he turned to written texts and a style of presentation that was tailored to local tastes, along with an ever increasing use of the French language.Hartnoll 1983. In February 1718 he successfully revived some of the old plays of

Évariste Gherardi Evaristo Gherardi (born 11 Novembre 1663 in Prato, Tuscany; assassinated 31 August 1700 in Paris), known in France as Évariste Gherardi, was an Italian actor and playwright, who arrived in France at the beginning of the 1670s. The son of two ac ...

, the director of the Comédie-Italienne in the years prior to 1697.Brenner 1961, p. 4; Senelick 1995a. He himself wrote several plays, including ''L'Italien à Paris'' and ''L'Italien francisé'' in which Italian and French manners were juxtaposed. He also began to produce plays by French playwrights, such as

Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, whose scenario ''L'Amante difficile'' was performed in Italian. The first play entirely in French was ''Le Naufrage au Port à l'Anglais'' by

Jacques Autreau Early Life Jacques Autreau, a French dramatic poet and painter, was born in 1657 in France. According to the registers of the church of Saint Barthélemy, he was baptized on October 30 of the same year. Career Artistic Career A poem addr ...

. Riccoboni achieved his greatest acclaim for his expressive acting, particularly in 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 ...

Other aspects of his career

Riccoboni appeared in London in 1728–1729. He wrote several books on theatre in Italian and French. One was translated into English in 1741.

Personal life

Riccoboni married twice, first to actress Gabriella Gardellini (stage name

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

), and second to

Elena Balletti Elena Balletti, Elena Riccoboni or Flaminia (27 April 1686 – 29 December 1771) was an Italian actress, poet, woman of letters, playwright and writer. Personal life Elena Virginia Balletti was born in Ferrara to a family of actors. Her parents w ...

(1686–1771; stage name Flaminia). His son

Antoine-François Riccoboni Antoine-François Riccoboni (1707 – 15 May 1772)"Riccoboni, An ...

(1707–1772) was an actor who used the stage name Lélio ''fils'' and in 1734 married

Marie-Jeanne de La Boras Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (25 October 1713 in Paris - 7 December 1792 in Paris), whose maiden name was Laboras de Mézières, was a French actress and novelist. Early years She was born in Paris in 1713. Career In 1735, she married Antoine Fra ...

Writings

* 1718: ''Hercule''. Paris: Antoine-Urbain Coustelier
Copy
at Google Books. * 1723: ''La surprise de l'amour, comédie'' (with

Pierre 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 ...

). Paris: Veuve Guillaume
Copy
at Gallica. * 1726: ''Arcagambis tragedie en un acte'' (with Pierre-François Biancolelli and Antoine-François Riccoboni). Paris: Pissot; Flahault
Copy
at Gallica. * 1728: ''Histoire du theatre italien''
Copy
at Google Books. * 1730–1731: ''Histoire du theatre italien'', 2 volumes. Paris: André Cailleau. Vols
1
an
2
at Google Books. * 1736: ''Observations sur la comédie et sur le génie de Molière''. Paris: Pissot
Copy
at Gallica. * 1741: ''An Historical and Critical Account of the Theatres of Europe'' (as Lewis Riccoboni). London: R. Dodsley
Copy
at Google Books. * 1743: '' De la Réformation du Théâtre '' sans nom d'imprimeur. 337 pp. Copie
1
an
2
at Google Books. * 1761: ''Les caquets, comédie en trois actes en prose'' (with Antoine-François Riccoboni). Paris:Ballard
Copy
at Gallica.

Notes

Bibliography

* Banham, Martin, editor (1995). ''The Cambridge Guide to the Theatre''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Brenner, Clarence D. (1961). ''The Théâtre Italien: Its Repertory, 1716–1793''. Berkeley: University of California Press. . * Courville, Xavier de (1943–1958). ''Luigi Riccoboni dit Lélio (un apôtre de l'art du théâtre au XVIII^e siècle)'', 3 volumes. Paris: L’Arche. * Forman, Edward (2010). ''Historical Dictionary of French Theater''. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press. . * Hartnoll, Phyllis, editor (1983). ''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' (fourth edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * Heartz, Daniel (2004). ''From Garrick to Gluck: Essays on Opera in the Age of Enlightenment''. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. . * Riccoboni, Louis (1730). ''Histoire du Théâtre Italien'', 2 volumes. Paris: André Cailleau. Vols
1

2
at

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. * Senelick, Laurence (1995a). "Gherardi family", in Banham 1995, p. 427. * Senelick, Laurence (1995b). "Riccoboni, family", in Banham 1995, p. 918. * Smith, Winifred (1912). ''The Commedia dell'arte: A Study in Italian Popular Comedy''. New York: Columbia University Press
Copy
at

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; 1964 reprint (with added illustrations): New York: Blom. {{DEFAULTSORT:Riccoboni, Luigi 17th-century Italian male actors Commedia dell'arte actors 1676 births 1753 deaths 18th-century Italian male actors Male actors from Emilia-Romagna