Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

Jean-Nicolas Bouilly
Born 24 January 1763
Joué-lès-Tours
Died 14 April 1842(1842-04-14) (aged 79)
Paris
Occupation Playwright
Librettist
Writer

Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (24 January 1763 – 14 April 1842) was a French playwright, librettist, children's writer, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for writing a libretto, supposedly based on a true story, about a woman who disguises herself as a man to rescue her husband from prison, which formed the basis of Beethoven's opera Fidelio as well as a number of other operas.

Life

Bouilly was born near Tours, and was briefly a lawyer for the Parlement de Paris. At the outbreak of the Revolution he held office under the new government and was head of the military commission in Tours during the Reign of Terror.

In 1795, he served as a member of the Committee of Public Instruction having a considerable share in the organization of primary education, but retired from public life four years later in order to devote himself to literature. Bouilly died in Paris.

Works

Theatre
Tales
Varia

In 1836 he published an autobiography.

Quote

References

External links

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