Comédiens français dans l’Empire et les Cours européennes. La dynastie des Rousselois-Fay-Volnys

Abstract

Many studies focus on European francomania in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and on the prestige of French dramatic art in Europe : the tragedy of course, but most importantly the comedy, the comic opera and the vaudeville. Who were these talented actors who contributed to the renown of French culture ? Why did the princes of the most prestigious courts send their emissaries to France in order to look out for the greatest talents and attract them to their country by paying them a fortune ? Critics have focused on the biographies of great tragediennes such as Adrienne Lecouvreur and Rachel. Yet, as much as art is a matter of individual genius, it can also be seen as the product of a long family tradition. This study sheds light on a lineage of actors who, generation after generation, have put their talent at the service of a culture, which was French by language but European by its diffusion. The history of the Rousselois-Fay-Volnys family shows the evolution that has wrenched actors from ostracism and has given them international recognition. Over the past two centuries, actors were granted a formal civil and a personal status making them respected citizens and turning their activity into a profession governed by strict laws. The Rousselois-Fay-Volnys dynasty perfectly illustrates these transformations.