Luigi Riccoboni

Luigi Riccoboni (1 April 1676 – 6 December 1753) was an Italian actor and writer on theatre, who was director of the Comédie-Italienne in Paris from 1716 to 1731. In France he was known as Louis Riccoboni and his stage name was Lélio.

Early life and career Born Luigi Andrea Riccoboni in Modena, Duchy of Modena and Reggio In 1699 Luigi Riccoboni established a commedia dell'arte troupe in the French style in northern Italy, since in his view the Italian tradition had become overly decadent. He also translated some of the plays of Molière and Racine into Italian.

As a director, Riccoboni initially had difficulty retaining audiences with improvised plays in Italian. More and more he turned to written texts and a style of presentation that was tailored to local tastes, along with an ever increasing use of the French language. In February 1718 he successfully revived some of the old plays of Évariste Gherardi, the director of the Comédie-Italienne in the years prior to 1697. He himself wrote several plays, including L'Italien à Paris and L'Italien francisé in which Italian and French manners were juxtaposed. He also began to produce plays by French playwrights, such as Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine, whose scenario L'Amante difficile was performed in Italian. The first play entirely in French was Le Naufrage au Port à l'Anglais by Jacques Autreau. Riccoboni achieved his greatest acclaim for his expressive acting, particularly in the plays of Marivaux.

In retirement he wrote several books on theatre in Italian and French. His Réflexions historiques sur les théâtres de l'Europe (Paris, 1738), although incomplete, was the first comparative study of the theatres of Italy, Spain, France, England, Holland, Flanders and Germany. It was translated into English as An Historical and Critical Account of the Theatres of Europe (London, 1741).

He died in Paris on 6 December 1753 and was buried at Saint-Sauveur.

Personal life Riccoboni married twice, first to actress Gabriella Gardellini (stage name Argentina), and second to Elena Balletti (1686–1771; stage name Flaminia). His son Antoine-François Riccoboni (1707–1772) was an actor who used the stage name Lélio fils and in 1734 married Marie-Jeanne de La Boras.

Writings 1718: Hercule. Paris: Antoine-Urbain Coustelier. Copy at Google Books. 1723: La surprise de l'amour, comédie (with Pierre Marivaux). Paris: Veuve Guillaume. Copy at Gallica. 1726: Arcagambis tragedie en un acte (with Pierre-François Biancolelli and Antoine-François Riccoboni). Paris: Pissot; Flahault. Copy at Gallica. 1728: Histoire du theatre italien. Copy at Google Books. 1730–1731: Histoire du theatre italien, 2 volumes. Paris: André Cailleau. Vols. 1 and 2 at Google Books. 1736: Observations sur la comédie et sur le génie de Molière. Paris: Pissot. Copy at Gallica. 1741: An Historical and Critical Account of the Theatres of Europe (as Lewis Riccoboni). London: R. Dodsley. Copy at Google Books. 1743: De la Réformation du Théâtre sans nom d'imprimeur. 337 pp. Copies 1 and 2 at Google Books. 1761: Les caquets, comédie en trois actes en prose (with Antoine-François Riccoboni). Paris:Ballard. Copy at Gallica.