Camille Doucet

Camille Doucet.

Camille Doucet (16 May 1812, Paris - 1 April 1895, Paris) was a French poet and playwright.

Biography

He was a solicitor's clerk and notary, the secretary of Baron Fain in the cabinet of King Louis-Philippe, then the general manager of theater administration at the ministry of the Emperor's Household in 1863. Several times a candidate for the Académie française, he was elected a member in 1865 and was the permanent secretary from 1876.

As Manager of Theater Administration, in 1867 Camille Doucet authorized the café-concerts "to use costumes, cross-dressing; to perform plays, to have interludes of dance and acrobatics";[1] these measures would support the further development of large venues, such as the Folies Bergère or the Olympia. Although Flaubert complained of him,[2] he had a reputation for honesty and kindness; the memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt show that he supported her debuts at the Comédie-Française and gave her entry to the Odéon.

Camille Doucet was the author of several poems and numerous plays: vaudevilles, operas, comedies in verse. While some of them were met in their time with success, they are now largely forgotten.

Works

Theater

Collected Works

Historical sources

External links

References

  1. Pradels (1908). Trente ans de Café-Concert….
  2. " La pièce de Bouilhet, comme tu sais (ou ne sais pas), a raté. La presse a été atroce et la direction de l’Odéon pire − le tout pour complaire au gars Camille Doucet, lequel se présente au prix de la meilleure comédie − échelon de l’Académie française. Tu conçois qu’un homme qui veut être de l’Académie française n’épargne rien. Bouilhet avait pensé un moment à se présenter comme candidat (du prix), mais Doucet se présentant, il se retire, bien entendu. " Lettre à Jules Duplan, 1er janvier 1861.
  3. "Description du fonds conservé aux Archives nationales sur la salle des inventaires virtuelle".