Edmond Rochefort

Edmond Rochefort, full name Claude-Louis-Marie de Rochefort-Luçay (Évaux-les-Bains, 1790 – Paris, April 1871), was a French writer, dramatist, vaudevillist and songs writer. His only play that was met with some success is Jocko ou le Singe du Brésil, presented at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris.

He wrote a book, Mémoires d'un vaudevilliste in which he recounts his adventures in La Réunion and the literary relationships he had with some writers of his time. In 1819 he was private secretary of Monsieur Millius, Guvernor of the Reunion Island. But lacking the necessary training, he returned to France in 1822 to marry Marie-Nicole Morel. He also authored a report Sur l'Ile de Bourbon et de Madagascar which was delivered to the Minister of the Navy and the original of which is in the O.M Archives in Aix-en-Provence.

He had 4 children: Caroline, Palmyra, Emilia and the famous Henri. Caroline, good at painting, was supporting the family by making many copies for the State (sources: family archives). He died in the most abject poverty in a catholic congregation of the fr (filles de la Charité de Nevers).

A very prolific author, he wrote under several pseudonyms: Armand de Rochefort, Edmond Rochefort, Rochefort.

Rochefort-Luçay was the father of the famous journalist and polemicist Henri Rochefort. Most biographers assign him the marquis title, however the letters patent of the King and the Accounts Chamber have never been found. However, his grandfather, Gabriel Jean Dominique, was indeed baron Coulanges of the province of Berry (Lury-sur-Arnon parish) (deed of sale of Coulanges in 1763 to M. de Plusquellec).

Selected works (in collaboration)

• 1820: Le Diable d'Argent, review in 1 act and in vaudevilles, (by Armand d'Artois,
• 1822: Le Départ d'une diligence, tableau épisodique in 1 act, (by Mathurin-Joseph Brisset,
• 1825: Les Singes, ou la Parade dans le salon, vaudeville in 1 act,(by Mathurin-Joseph Brisset,
• 1826: Jocko ou le Singe du Brésil (Jocko or the Monkey of Brazil), two-act play,
• 1826: La pêche de Vulcain, ou L'île des fleuves, vaudeville, (by Mathurin-Joseph Brisset,
• 1828: Les cuisiniers diplomates, vaudeville in 1 act (by Michel Masson,
• 1829: L'Audience du juge de paix, ou le Bureau de conciliation, tableau in 1 act, (by Charles de Livry),
• 1830: Madame Grégoire ou Le cabaret de la Pomme de pin, vaudeville in 2 acts, (by Charles Rondeau),
• 1833: L'Aspirant de marine, opéra comique in 2 acts, (by Alexis Decomberousse),
• 1836: Le Comédien de salon, (by Achille d'Artois)
• 1837: La Folie Beaujon ou l'Enfant du mystère, vaudeville in 1 act, (by Charles Dupeuty