Jean Nicolas Bouilly

Born near Tours in 1763, Jean-Nicolas Bouilly was a French playwright, librettist, children’s writer, and public official during the French Revolution. He studied law and briefly worked as a lawyer before moving into government service, where he took part in the organization of primary education.

After retiring from public life around the end of the 1790s, he devoted himself to writing. His work ranged from stage plays and opéras-comiques to popular moral tales for young readers, giving him a broad audience in his own time.

Today Bouilly is most often remembered for Léonore, ou l’amour conjugal, the libretto that became the basis for Beethoven’s Fidelio. He also wrote libretti for other composers, including Cherubini, and remains an interesting link between French Revolutionary culture and the musical life of early nineteenth-century Europe.