Author: Delavigne, Casimir
Biography:
DELAVIGNE, Jean François Casimir (1793-1843: EB)
He was born at Le Havre, France, on 4 Apr. 1793 and was educated in Paris. His first collection of poems, Messéniennes, was published in France to popular acclaim in 1818 and suited the patriotic fervour of the day. Delavigne followed it with a tragedy, Les Vêpres Siciliennes, successfully produced at the newly rebuilt Odéon theatre in Paris in 1819. Other plays followed and Delavigne was seen as the preeminent French dramatist of his day. His plays included a version of Byron’s (q.v.) Marino Faliero. He served as the librarian at the Palais Royale and in 1815 he was made an officer of the Legion of Honour. However, he suffered from declining health in the 1840s and Delavigne died at Lyon on 11 Dec. 1843 when he was travelling to Italy in search of a warmer climate. Messenian on Lord Byron, listed in this bibliography, was translated by George Holdsworth Poppleton and not Captain Thomas William Poppleton (c. 1775-1827) as given in some contemporary reviews. G. H. Poppleton, the son of Lawrence and Mary Poppleton, was baptised at All Hallows church, City of London, on 6 Aug. 1775. It is not known when he moved to France but he married Emilie Zoe Dupuis in Paris on 8 Apr. 1815; they had four children. Poppleton taught English and published books of grammar and language instruction. He died at Nice on 21 Mar. 1850. Poems by Delavigne were also translated by Edward Farhill (q.v.) although his 1829 Translations into Verse which he published as by "E. F." is usually attributed to Edward Fitzgerald (1809-83: ODNB). (EB; Académie Française online 9 July 2024; ancestry.co.uk 9 July 2024; ODNB [Edward FitzGerald] 9 July 2024) SR
Other Names:
- Casimir de la Vigne