Figaro

Figaro, a dramatic character introduced on the Parisian stage in 1775 by Beaumarchais (q.v.) in his Barbier de Seville and his Mariage de Figaro, is first a barber and then a valet-de-chambre, and has become a type of cunning, intrigue, and dexterity. Mozart and Rossini made Beaumarchais's plays the basis of classic operas. The name has been adopted by a well-known Parisian newspaper (founded 1854).