Camille Doucet

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

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.

Theater

• A Young Man, a comedy-drama in three acts, in verse, Paris, théâtre de l'Odéon, November 29, 1841
• The Advocate of His Cause, a comedy in one act and in verse, Paris, théâtre de l'Odéon, February 5, 1842
• The Baron de Lafleur, or the Last Valets, a comedy in three acts and in verse, Paris, théâtre de l'Odéon, December 13, 1842
• Hunting Scoundrels, a comedy in three acts and in verse, Paris, Théâtre-Français, February 27, 1846
• The Last Banquet of 1847, comedy-revue in tables 3 and verse, Paris, théâtre de l'Odéon, December 30, 1847
• Enemies of the house, a comedy in three acts, in verse, Paris, Second Théâtre-Français, December 6, 1850
• The Forbidden Fruit, comedy in verse, Paris, Théâtre-Français, November 23, 1857
• The Consideration, a comedy in four acts in verse, Paris, Théâtre-Français, November 6, 1860

Collected Works

• Comedies in verse (1858) Volume 1: The Forbidden Fruit, Enemies of the House, Hunting Scoundrels. Volume 2: The Baron de Lafleur, The Advocate of his Cause, A Young Man and speech in verse.
• Complete Works (1874)

• Octave Pradels, Thirty Years of the Café-Concert: Memories of Paulus (collected, 300 illustrations, 60 songs), Paris, Société d'édition et de publications, 460 p.
• The personal papers of Camille Doucet are kept in the National Archives in document 487AP

• "Description du fonds conservé aux Archives nationales sur la salle des inventaires virtuelle".