The Marriage of Figaro (Author Biography)

Author Biography

Beaumarchais was born in Paris, France, on January 24, 1732. In 1753, working as an apprentice to his watchmaker father, Beaumarchais devised a mechanism that was recognized by the Academy of Sciences. Two years later, he was appointed watchmaker to the royal court of Louis XV. Upon marrying a widow, he became Clerk Controller and also inherited the property of Beaumarchais, from where he took his name. He became wealthy through business associations and purchased the title of Secretary of the King, which made him a member of the French nobility.

Beaumarchais traveled to Spain in 1764, after his sister’s fiancé refused to marry her, where he revealed the fiancé’s treachery. This trip gave him the opportunity to observe Spanish life and culture, including the wastefulness of the nobility and the abuses of the government. He returned to Paris in 1767 to present his play Eugénie, which made use of these experiences. His next play, Les Deux Amies, appeared three years later, in 1770. That same year, Beaumarchais became involved in a lawsuit. Although he eventually won his case, he was stripped of the civil rights belonging to French citizens, and these rights were not reinstated until 1776.

During this period, King Louis XV hired Beaumarchais as a secret agent. On frequent trips to England, he became interested in the cause for American independence. With the support of the French government, he helped provide unofficial money and arms to the American colonists.

He continued to work on his writings. The Barber of Seville, which first introduced Figaro, was produced in 1775. He completed The Marriage of Figaro in 1780, but it was not produced until four years later. The liberetto Tarare came out in 1787, and again in 1790 with a new ending adapted to the political changes that had taken place because of the French Revolution. La Mere Coupable was presented in 1792. Between 1783 and 1790, Beaumarchais published a complete edition of the works of Voltaire. In 1777 he also founded the Society of Dramatic Authors, one of the first organizations that protected an author’s rights.

Beaumarchais continued to pursue his business interests, undertaking arms negotiations in 1792 on behalf of the French revolutionary government. Accused by the government of hiding the guns, he was imprisoned but freed from jail in time to escape the September massacres that took place that year.

Beaumarchais fled to England and then to Hamburg, Germany. The French government declared him an emigre, which barred his return to France, before imprisoning his family and seizing his property. He remained in exile in Germany until 1796, when the new government allowed him to return. He died of a stroke in Paris on May 18, 1799.