FAVART, CrrAttLEs SINION, a French dramatist, was b. at Paris, 13th Nov., 1710, and first became known by his La Cherelteuse d'Esprit, performed in 1741. In 1745, he married Mdllc. Duronceray, herself a dramatic writer of some note, and a singer of remarkable talent, and in the same year became director of the Opira Comique. The fine taste and judgment of F. and his wife soon obtained for their theater a great repu tation. It was they who made the first attempt to harmonize the costume of the actors and actresses with their impersonations, and to put a stop to the ridiculous practice of decking out soubrettes and country-girls in the attire of court ladies. So powerful, however, was the opposition excited against them by the jealousy of the other theaters, that the Opera Contzque was closed in the first year of its existence. After some time spent with marechal de Saxe during his campaign in Flanders, F. and his wife returned
to Paris, where the former continued to write operas. His wife died in 1772, and he 12th May, 1793. F.'s success as a writer was very great: he may be reckoned the father of the comic opera, and the happy successor of Le Sage, Piron, etc. The number of his pieces amounts to about 60, of which the most celebrated are Comment l'Esprit tient aux Mlles; Le Coq du Village; Bastien et Bastien ne; .Ninnette a la COUr ; Les Trois Sultan-es; and L' Anglais a Bordeaux. His works have been published several times. An edition in 10 vols. was published at Paris in 1810, under the title of ThMtre de Monsieur et Madame Favart. A very interesting book, entitled Les Memoires et la Correspondance de Favart, giving delightful glimpses of the literary and theatrical world of the 18th c.. was published at Paris in 1809 by his grandson.