Scribe, Eugene

1791-1861

 

French dramatist; born in Paris; who wrote the librettos for over a thousand operas, and has been called the originator of the comedie-vaudeville. Scribe made his debut as a playwright at the age of twenty, when a piece of his was produced at the Theatre du Vaudeville in Paris. He was a member of the French Academy from 1836, and amassed a large fortune by his writings. He was the author of the librettos of Auber's Masaniello, Fra Diavolo, Lestocq, and Domino Noir; Meyerbeer's L'Africaine; Robert le Diable; Les Huguenots: am 1 Le Prophete; also the librettos for Boieldieu's La Dame Blanche, Halevy's Manon Lescaut, and La Juive, and operas of Herold, Adam, and Verdi. The librettos of thirty-three grand operas were written by Scribe. The edition of 1855 of his works includes two volumes of operas and three of opera comique, while the last edition, 1874 to 1881, includes six volumes of ballets and operas and twenty-five opera comiques.