Favart

Favart, CHARLES SIMON, a French dramatist, was born at Paris, 13th November 1710, and first became known by his La Chercheuse d'Esprit, performed in 1741. In 1745 he became director of the Opéra Comique, where he and his wife (a singer and actress, who had a share in the composition of several of her husband's plays) made the first attempt to harmonise the costume of the actors and actresses with their impersonations. This excited the jealousy of the other theatres, and the Opéra Comique was closed in the first year of its existence. After spending some time in Flanders, with a troupe of comedians, in the army under Marshal Saxe, Favart returned to Paris and continued to write operas. He died 12th May 1792. His most celebrated pieces are Le Cœq du Village, Bastien et Bastienne, Ninette à la Cour, Les Trois Sultanes, and L'Anglais à Bordeaux. An edition of his works in ten volumes was published at Paris in 1810; Les Mémoires et la Correspondance de Favart, giving delightful glimpses of the literary and theatrical world of the 18th century, was published at Paris in 1809 by his grandson.—Madame Favart is the subject and the title of a popular comic opera (1878) by Offenbach.