Camille Doucet (16 May 1812 in Paris – 1 April 1895 in Paris) was a French poet and playwright.

Biography

Camille Doucet was born on 16 May, 1812, in Paris, France. He was a solicitor's clerk and notary, the secretary of Baron Fain in the cabinet of King Louis-Philippe, then the general manager of theater administration at the ministry of the Emperor's Household in 1863. Several times a candidate for the Académie française, he was elected a member in 1865 and was the permanent secretary from 1876. As Manager of Theater Administration, in 1867 Camille Doucet authorized the café-concerts "to use costumes, cross-dressing; to perform plays, to have interludes of dance and acrobatics"; these measures would support the further development of large venues, such as the Folies Bergère or the Olympia. Although Flaubert complained of him, he had a reputation for honesty and kindness; the memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt show that he supported her debuts at the Comédie-Française and gave her entry to the Odéon. Camille Doucet was the author of several poems and numerous plays: vaudevilles, operas, comedies in verse. While some of them were met in their time with success, they are now largely forgotten. Doucet died on 1 April, 1895, at the age of 82, in Paris, France.

Works

Theater Collected Works

Historical sources