Victorien Sardou (/sÉ'Ë rˈduË / sar-DOO, French: [viktÉ"Ê jɛ̃
saÊ du]; 5 September 1831 â€" 8 November 1908) was a French
dramatist.[1] He is best remembered today for his development, along
with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play.[2] He also wrote several
plays that were made into popular 19th-century operas such as La Tosca
(1887) on which Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca (1900) is based, and
Fédora (1882) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1893) that provided the subjects
for the lyrical dramas Fedora (1898) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1915) by
Umberto Giordano.Victorien Sardou was born at 16 Rue Beautreillis
(pronounced [Ê y bo.tÊ É›.ji]), Paris on 5 September 1831. The Sardous
were settled at Le Cannet, a village near Cannes, where they owned an
estate, planted with olive trees. A night's frost killed all the trees
and the family was ruined. Victorien's father, Antoine Léandre
Sardou, came to Paris in search of employment. He was in succession a
book-keeper at a commercial establishment, a professor of
book-keeping, the head of a provincial school, then a private tutor
and a schoolmaster in Paris, besides editing grammars, dictionaries
and treatises on various subjects. With all these occupations, he
hardly succeeded in making a livelihood, and when he retired to his
native country, Victorien was left on his own resources. He had begun
studying medicine, but had to desist for want of funds. He taught
French to foreign pupils: he also gave lessons in Latin, history and
mathematics to students, and wrote articles for cheap
encyclopaedias.[3]At the same time, he was trying to make headway in
the literary world. His talents had been encouraged by an old
bas-bleu, Mme de Bawl, who had published novels and enjoyed some
reputation in the days of the Restoration, but she could do little for
her protégé. Victorien Sardou made efforts to attract the attention
of Mlle Rachel, and to win her support by submitting to her a drama,
La Reine Ulfra, founded on an old Swedish chronicle. A play of his, La
Taverne des étudiants, was produced at the Odéon on 1 April 1854,
but met a stormy reception, owing to a rumour that the débutant had
been instructed and commissioned by the government to insult the
students. La Taverne was withdrawn after five nights. Another drama by
Sardou, Bernard Palissy, was accepted at the same theatre, but the
arrangement was cancelled in consequence of a change in the
management. A Canadian play, Fleur de Liane, would have been produced
at the Ambigu but for the death of the manager. Le Bossu, which he
wrote for Charles Albert Fechter, did not satisfy the actor; and when
the play was successfully produced, the nominal authorship, by some
unfortunate arrangement, had been transferred to other men. Sardou
submitted to Adolphe Lemoine, manager of the Gymnase, a play entitled
Paris à l'envers, which contained the love scene, afterwards so
famous, in Nos Intimes. Lemoine thought fit to consult Eugène Scribe,
who was revolted by the scene in question.[3]
saÊ du]; 5 September 1831 â€" 8 November 1908) was a French
dramatist.[1] He is best remembered today for his development, along
with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play.[2] He also wrote several
plays that were made into popular 19th-century operas such as La Tosca
(1887) on which Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca (1900) is based, and
Fédora (1882) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1893) that provided the subjects
for the lyrical dramas Fedora (1898) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1915) by
Umberto Giordano.Victorien Sardou was born at 16 Rue Beautreillis
(pronounced [Ê y bo.tÊ É›.ji]), Paris on 5 September 1831. The Sardous
were settled at Le Cannet, a village near Cannes, where they owned an
estate, planted with olive trees. A night's frost killed all the trees
and the family was ruined. Victorien's father, Antoine Léandre
Sardou, came to Paris in search of employment. He was in succession a
book-keeper at a commercial establishment, a professor of
book-keeping, the head of a provincial school, then a private tutor
and a schoolmaster in Paris, besides editing grammars, dictionaries
and treatises on various subjects. With all these occupations, he
hardly succeeded in making a livelihood, and when he retired to his
native country, Victorien was left on his own resources. He had begun
studying medicine, but had to desist for want of funds. He taught
French to foreign pupils: he also gave lessons in Latin, history and
mathematics to students, and wrote articles for cheap
encyclopaedias.[3]At the same time, he was trying to make headway in
the literary world. His talents had been encouraged by an old
bas-bleu, Mme de Bawl, who had published novels and enjoyed some
reputation in the days of the Restoration, but she could do little for
her protégé. Victorien Sardou made efforts to attract the attention
of Mlle Rachel, and to win her support by submitting to her a drama,
La Reine Ulfra, founded on an old Swedish chronicle. A play of his, La
Taverne des étudiants, was produced at the Odéon on 1 April 1854,
but met a stormy reception, owing to a rumour that the débutant had
been instructed and commissioned by the government to insult the
students. La Taverne was withdrawn after five nights. Another drama by
Sardou, Bernard Palissy, was accepted at the same theatre, but the
arrangement was cancelled in consequence of a change in the
management. A Canadian play, Fleur de Liane, would have been produced
at the Ambigu but for the death of the manager. Le Bossu, which he
wrote for Charles Albert Fechter, did not satisfy the actor; and when
the play was successfully produced, the nominal authorship, by some
unfortunate arrangement, had been transferred to other men. Sardou
submitted to Adolphe Lemoine, manager of the Gymnase, a play entitled
Paris à l'envers, which contained the love scene, afterwards so
famous, in Nos Intimes. Lemoine thought fit to consult Eugène Scribe,
who was revolted by the scene in question.[3]
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