Mélesville

Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier, surnamed Mélesville (13 December 1787, Paris -7 November 1865, Marly-le-Roi), pen-name Mélesville, was a French dramatist.

Life

The son of a distinguished magistrate, Mélesville initially had success at the bar and as a magistrate. He left these jobs in 1814 to dedicate himself to the theatre (though he had first gained praise in that area in 1811 for his comedy l’Oncle rival). Out of consideration for his father's position, he wrote under the pseudonym Mélesville, by which he is still known.

He wrote in all genres - dramas, melodramas, comedies, vaudevilles, opera librettos - and is the sole or collaborative author of more than 340 plays. His collaborators included Eugène Scribe and Delestre-Poirson, with the collective pseudonym of Amédée de Saint-Marc. He collaborated with the more famous authors Brazier, Carmouche, Bayard, Scribe, Léon Laya on over 500 plays, some of which enjoyed great success. It was with Scribe that he enjoyed his most consistent successes, on genre pieces, thanks to the pieces' design and to their wit, happy words and well-observed detail. He also wrote with Dumersan and Théaulon. As a librettist, he notably collaborated with Auber and Adam. Ignaz Brüll's most successful opera, Das Goldene Kreuz (The Cross of Gold) was also based on a story by Mélesville.

Sources

• Gustave Vapereau, Dictionnaire universel des littératures, Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 687. View at Google Books.