Bernard-Joseph Saurin

Bernard- Joseph Saurin (* 1706 in Paris, † November 17, 1781 in Paris) was a French lawyer, poet and playwright.

Life

Saurin was the son of Joseph Saurin, a converted Protestant minister and mathematician who was accused in 1712 by Jean -Baptiste Rousseau, to be the actual author libelous verses, but that was due to a gossip Rousseau.

Attracted by the literature and by frequenting the society of the Caveau, he became a lawyer in Parliament, a career that he did not like, but she endured for 15 years to support his family. His career in the theater began when he was 40.

Neither his comedy Les Trois Rivaux ( The three rivals ), nor his successful tragedy Amenhotep, with the tragedy and the comedy Les Spartacus Moeurs du temps appeared ( The manners of the time) in 1760, was rewarded with applause at the Comédie - Française. The following year, the author was a member of the French Academy.

He attended the literary cafés and salons of Madame de Staël, Mme de Tencin, Madame d' Epinay Madame Geoffrin and. Friend of Voltaire, Saint -Lambert, Montesquieu, Turgot and Helvetius, he could be considered one of the philosophers.

He translated some English works into French and saw some of his works, in turn, translated into English. Among the better known of his plays was Beverlei ( 1768), a tragedy.

Work

Theater

The works are listed chronologically and include links to the text in Gallica at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, as available:

• Amenhotep, a tragedy, which was first performed at the Comédie - Française on November 12, 1752
• Spartacus, a tragedy, which was first performed at the Comédie - Française on 20 February 1760, which repeated in February 1772 and on August 20, 1818
• Les Moeurs du temps, a prose comedy in one act, which was premiered at the Comédie - Française on December 22, 1760 ( it was repeated 1760-1785 69 times )
• Blanche et Guiscard, in imitation of the English comedy and Tancred Sigismunda by James Thomson, was performed for the first time on September 25, 1763 at the Comédie - Française
• L' Orpheline léguée, a comedy in three acts in free verse, Fontainebleau, Comédiens ordinaires français du Roi, November 5, 1765, Paris, November 6, 1765
• Beverlei, in imitation of the English tragedy The Gamester by Edward Moore, in five acts and in free verse, Paris, Comédiens français, May 7, 1768
• L' Anglomaniac, or l' Orpheline léguée, a comedy in one act and in free verse, Fontainebleau, Comédiens français, November 5, 1772, Paris, November 23, 1772
• Sophie Fran Court, a prose comedy in four acts, Paris, Comédiens italy ordinaires du Roi, February 18, 1783