Monsieur and Madame Prudhomme were a pair of French caricature characters of the 19th century, created by Henry Monnier. They were a bourgeois couple.
Monsieur Prudhomme first appeared in 1830 in the first version of the Scènes de province, then in the play Grandeur et décadence de M. Joseph Prudhomme (1852) then in two volumes of collected drawings Mémoires de Monsieur Joseph Prudhomme (1857), then in Monsieur Prudhomme chef de brigands (1860).
Plump, foolish, conformist and sententious, Joseph was called by Honoré de Balzac “l’illustre type des bourgeois de Paris” (the classic example of the Paris middle-classes).
Two examples of Prudhomme's pontification are: «C’est l’ambition qui perd les hommes. Si Napoléon était resté officier d’artillerie, il serait encore sur le trône» (It's ambition that destroys men. If Napoleon had remained an artillery officer, he would still be on the throne) and «La nature est prévoyante: elle fait pousser la pomme en Normandie sachant que c'est dans cette région qu'on boit le plus de cidre» (Nature is far-sighted: it makes apples grow in Normandy knowing that it's in that region that people drink the most cider).
Sacha Guitry wrote a play in 1931 called “Monsieur Prudhomme a-t-il vécu?”, freely inspired by Monnier’s life, and relating to the genesis of the character.
René François Armand "Sully" Prudhomme was a French poet and essayist. He was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901.
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.
Eugène Marin Labiche was a French dramatist. He remains famous for his contribution to the vaudeville genre and his passionate and domestic pochads.
Gilles Vigneault is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: "Mon pays" and "Gens du pays", and his line Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver became a proverb in Quebec. Vigneault is a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec, Knight of the Legion of Honour, and Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state theatre in France to have its own permanent troupe of actors. The company's primary venue is the Salle Richelieu, which is a part of the Palais-Royal complex and located at 2, Rue de Richelieu on Place André-Malraux in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.
18th-century French literature is French literature written between 1715, the year of the death of King Louis XIV of France, and 1798, the year of the coup d'État of Bonaparte which brought the Consulate to power, concluded the French Revolution, and began the modern era of French history. This century of enormous economic, social, intellectual and political transformation produced two important literary and philosophical movements: during what became known as the Age of Enlightenment, the Philosophes questioned all existing institutions, including the church and state, and applied rationalism and scientific analysis to society; and a very different movement, which emerged in reaction to the first movement; the beginnings of Romanticism, which exalted the role of emotion in art and life.
Laurent Pelly is a French opera and theatre director. He is sought after by the world's most prestigious houses. With a natural affinity for Italian and French repertoire, his creative curiosity has also led him towards other composers, including Russian and Czech. He brings theatrical insight to his work with singers and his concepts often contain surreal invention and a dark sense of humour. A master of detail, he underlines his interpretation of characters through skilful and inspired costume designs.
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a Creole general, from the French colony of Saint-Domingue, in Revolutionary France.
Frédéric de Courcy, born Frédéric Charlot de Courcy was a French dramatist, poet and chansonnier.
Henry-Bonaventure Monnier was a French playwright, caricaturist and actor.
Michel Creton is a French actor.
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac is a three-act comédie-ballet—a ballet interrupted by spoken dialogue—by Molière, first presented on 6 October 1669 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. Subsequent public performances were given at the theatre of the Palais-Royal beginning on 18 November 1669. The music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, the choreography was by Pierre Beauchamp, the sets were by Carlo Vigarani, and the costumes were created by the chevalier d’Arvieux.
Jean-Noël Grinda is a former French international tennis player.
Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari, known as Nino Ferrer, was an Italian-born French singer-songwriter and author.
Marie-François-Denis-Thérésa Le Roy Allarde better known as Francis baron d'Allarde was a 19th-century French chansonnier and playwright.
Louis-François-Marie Nicolaïe, better known as Clairville, was a 19th-century French comedian, poet, chansonnier, goguettier and playwright.
Jules Moinaux, real name Joseph-Désiré Moineaux or Moineau was a 19th-century French writer, playwright, and librettist. Georges Courteline, whose civil status name was Georges Moinaux, was his son.
La Marjolaine is an opéra bouffe in three acts, with music by Charles Lecocq and words by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo, the third collaboration by the three. It opened at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris on 3 February 1877 and had a fairly successful run of 117 performances. The work was staged in continental Europe, Britain and the Americas over the next few years.
A Monsieur et Madame joke is originally a French type of joke, which takes the form of a riddle. It involves providing the surname of a husband and wife and asking for their child's given name, with the answer forming a pun. For example, Monsier and Madame Mauve are said to have a son called Guy, where his name is a homophone for guimauve ("marshmallow").
In Brussels, as in most European cities, one needed the capacity of bourgeois in order to not only exercise political rights, but also to practice a trade, which, in Brussels, meant to be a member of the Guilds or of the Seven Noble Houses. The charter of Brussels, as codified in 1570 in articles 206 and following, provided the conditions of admission to the bourgeoisie of the city. The Bourgeois were the patrician class of the city. This social class was abolished by Napoleon during the French occupation.
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