Floridor
Josias de Soûlas, known as "Floridor", Sieur de Prinefosse (c.1608-14 August 1671) was a French actor.[1][2]
Biography
He was born in Brie early in the 17th century, the son of a gentleman of German family who had moved to France, married there, and become a Roman Catholic. The son entered the French army, but after being promoted ensign, quit the army for the theatre, where he took the name of "Floridor." His first Paris appearance was in 1640. Three years later he was called to the company at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, where he played all the leading parts in tragedy and comedy and became the head of his profession. He was a man of superb physique and excellent carriage, with a flexible and sonorous voice, and manners of rare distinction and elegance, He was much liked at court, and Louis XIV held him in particular esteem.
The actor and playwright Noël Lebreton de Hauteroche succeeded him as head of the troupe at the Hôtel de Bourgogne.
Family
His daughter was Marie-Marguerite de Soûlas, who married fellow actor and comedy writer Antoine Jacob in 1665.
References
- Émile Campardon Les Comédiens du roi de la troupe française pendant les deux ... Page 107 1970 "FLORIDOR (Marguerite Baloré, mariée à Josias de Soûlas, dit). Floridor naquit vers 1608 et fut quelque temps militaire. ... Il mourut le 14 août 1671 "
- J. Fransen, Les Comédiens français en Hollande au XVII* et au XVIII «siècle. Paris, librairie Honoré Champion, 4925. JSTOR "Mais ce que l'on sait, c'est que Josias de Soûlas, dit Floridor, se produisit aux Pays-Bas, et qu'il avait à ce point l'estime du grand tragique que Corneille le chargea de remettre à Constantin Huygens, à qui il dédia le Menteur, un exemplaire de sa Médée."
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Floridor". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Further reading
- Howarth, William Driver (1997). "Floridor Leaves the Marais in 1647". French theatre in the neo-classical era, 1550-1789. Theatre in Europe. Vol. 5. Cambridge University Press. pp. 168–169. ISBN 0-521-23013-6. Retrieved 2011-05-14.