Vigny, Alfred Victor, Comte de (1797-1863)

Vigny, Alfred Victor, Comte de

POET, NOVELIST, PLAYWRIGHT, TRANSLATOR (FRANCE)

BORN 17 Feb 1797, Loches, Indre-et-Loire - DIED 16 Sep 1863, Paris
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière de Montmartre, 20 Avenue Rachel (division 13, ligne 02, numéro 01)

Alfred de Vigny was the son of a veteran of the Seven Years' War. His mother was twenty years younger and was inspired by Rousseau. He was educated in Paris and in 1814 he joined the Maison du Roi as second lieutenant. In 1820 he published his first poem "Le Bal". In 1822 he was promoted to captain, but he was bored by the army and he finally left it in 1827.

In 1825 he had married Lydia Bunbury in Pau and they settled in Paris. In 1826 he published his historical novel "Cinq-Mars". His first play "La Maréchale d'Ancre" was staged in 1831. He met the actress Marie Dorval and he became her lover. His own wife suffered from bad health and never learnt to speak French well. The affair with Dorval lasted until 1838 and was plagued by his jealousy. In 1835 his drama "Chatterton" was staged with Marie Dorval as Kitty Bell.

In 1838 he inherited the property of Maine-Giraud from his mother and there he continued his writing. After several attempts he was elected into the Academie Française in 1845. In his later years he ceased publishing although he still wrote. Fron 1854 to 1857 he had an affair with the poet Louise Colet. He suffered from stomach cancer at the end of his life and he died in 1863, a few months after his wife.

Related persons
• was the lover of Dorval, Marie
• visited Singer, Flore

Events

5/4/1877

Premiere of Gounod's opera "Cinq-Mars" at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The role of Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars, was played by Étienne Dereims. The opera was performed a few times and was rarely seen after that. The librettto was written by Paul Poirson and Louis Gallet and it was a loose adaption of Alfred de Vigny's historical novel of the same name. [Dereims, Étienne][Gounod, Charles]