Eugène Scribe

Augustine Eugene Scribe (December 24, 1791 - February 20, 1861) was a French playwright and librettist. He is known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" (pièce bien faite), the pillar of the popular theater for over 100 years, and the librettist of many of the most successful great operas. The scribe was born in Paris and died there. His father was a silk merchant, and he was well educated, being destined for the law. However, he soon began to write for the stage. His first work, "Le Prétendu sans le savoir", was anonymously released at the Varilux Theater in 1810 and failed. Numerous other plays followed, written in collaboration with various authors; but Scribe did not achieve definite success until 1815 when he wrote the Une Nuit de la Garde nationally (Night of the National Guard, 1815), a collaboration with Delester Poirson. Most of his later work was also written in collaboration with others. His debut in a serious comedy took place in the French theater in 1822 along with Valerie, the first of many successful works of the same type. Among the actors for whom he played the main roles are Mls Mars and Rachel. The scribe was elected to the French Academy in 1834.