User:Tamarkot/Rachel Felix

This is a translation in progress from fr:Rachel Félix to Rachel Felix.

Elisabeth Rachel Félix, better known only as Rachel, was an actress in the theatre. She was born on 21 February 1821 in Mumpf, Argovie, Switzerland, and died on 3 January 1858 in Le Cannet.

Born Élisa Félix in Mumpf, Aargau, Switzerland, the daughter of Alsatian peddlers, Rachel earned money as a child singing and reciting in the streets. She came to Paris about 1830, and took elocution and singing lessons, eventually studying under the instruction of the musician Alexandre Choron and of Saint-Aulaire, and taking dramatic arts courses at the Conservatoire. To provide for the needs of her family she debuted in La Vendéenne in January 1837 at the Théâtre du Gymnase. Delestre-Poirson, the director, gave her the stage name Rachel, the name which she adopted for her private life. Auditioning in March 1838, she entered the Théâtre-Français in Pierre Corneille's Horace at the age of 17.

Her fame spread throughout Europe following a sensational success in London in 1841, and became particularly associated with the works of Racine, Voltaire, and Corneille, touring in Brussels, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. She created the title role in Eugène Scribe's Adrienne Lecouvreur. Her acting style was characterized by clear diction and economy of gesture, and represented a major departure from the exaggerated style of the day. She was best known for her portrayal of the title rôle in Phèdre.

She became the mistress of Napoleon I's son, Alexandre Joseph Count Colonna-Walewski, and by him was the mother of Alexandre Colonna-Walewski in 1844. She died of tuberculosis in Le Cannet, Alpes-Maritimes, France. She is interred in a mausoleum in the Jewish part of Père Lachaise Cemetery.

The character Vashti in Charlotte Brontë's novel Villette was patterned after Rachel, whom Brontë had seen in London.

The raschel knitting-machine and the rachel colour are named after her.

Chronological Repertoire

 * 1837:
 * La Vendéenne by Paul Duport (Théâtre du Gymnase, 24 April)
 * Le Mariage de raison de Scribe et Varner (Théâtre du Gymnase, 12 June)

At the Théâtre Français:


 * 1838:
 * Camille in Horace by Corneille (12 June to 11 September)
 * Émilie in Cinna by Corneille (27 September)
 * Hermione in Andromaque by Racine (4 September)
 * Aménaïde in Trancrède by Voltaire
 * Ériphile in Iphigénie en Aulide by Racine
 * Monime in Mithridate by Racine
 * Roxane in Bajazet by Racine (23 November)
 * 1839:
 * Esther in Esther by Racine (29 February)
 * Laodice in Nicomède by Corneille (9 April)
 * Dorine in Tartuffe by Molière (30 April)
 * 1840:
 * Pauline in Polyeucte Martyr by Corneille (15 May)
 * First tour in France during the summer (Rouen, Le Havre, Lyon)
 * The title role of Marie Stuart by Lebrun (22 December)
 * 1841:
 * Toured in Belgium and England (summer)
 * 1842:
 * Chimène in Le Cid by Corneille (19 January)
 * The title role of Ariane by Thomas Corneille (7 May)
 * Toured in England and Belgium (summer)
 * Frédégonde in Frédégonde et Brunehaut by Lemercier (5 November)
 * 1843:
 * The title role of Phèdre by Racine (21 January)
 * The title role of Judith by Girardin (24 January)
 * Toured in Rouen, Marseilles and Lyons (summer)
 * 1844:
 * The title role of Bérénice by Racine (6 January)
 * Isabelle in Don Sanche d'Aragon by Corneille (17 January)
 * The title role of Catherine II by Romand (25 May)
 * Marinette in Le Dépit amoureux by Molière (1 July)
 * Toured in Belgium (summer)
 * Birth of her son Alexandre in Marly-le-Roi (3 November)
 * 1845:
 * Virginie in Brest (3 July)
 * Polyeucte in Nancy (25 August)
 * 1846:
 * Toured in the Netherlands, in Liège and in Lille (June)
 * Toured in London (July-August)
 * 1847:
 * La Muse sérieuse in L'Ombre by Molière (15 January)
 * Fatine in Le Vieux by La Montagne (6 February)
 * The title role of Athalie by Racine (5 March)
 * Toured in London, in the Netherlands, and at Liège (May-June)
 * 1848:
 * Birth of her second son, Gabriel, at Neuilly-sur-Seine (26 January)
 * Horace (13 March)
 * Toured in Amsterdam (June-October)
 * Britannicus by Racine (October)
 * 1849:
 * Andromaque (January)
 * The title role of Le Moineau de Lesbie by Armand Barthet (22 March)
 * The title role of Adrienne Lecouvreur (14 April)
 * Toured in west and southwest France (29 May - 31 August)
 * 1850:
 * The title role of Mlle de Belle-Isle by Alexandre Dumas(25 January)
 * Thisbé in Angelo by Victor Hugo (18 May)
 * Lydie in Horace et Lydie by François Ponsard (19 June)
 * Toured in London, Hamburg, Berlin, Potsdam, Brême, Vienna, and Munich (July-October)
 * 1851: Toured
 * 1853: Toured
 * 1854: Toured in Warsaw, Saint Petersburg and Moscow (January-April)
 * 1855: Toured in New York and in the United States (September-December)
 * The troupe separated in Cuba in December.
 * 1858: Rachel died on 3 January