Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais

The name of Beaumarchais (1732–1799) is inseparably linked with the Age of Enlightenment, the epoch of new ideas and views, the epoch when social and moral standards of society were renewed, the epoch of the glorified names of Voltaire, Diderot, Russo, Richardson … The image of this epoch would be incomplete without Beaumarchais, the creator of Figaro, whose name became nominal similarly to the names of Don Juan or Hamlet. His plays “The Barber of Seville” and ”The Marriage of Figaro” are still staged and admired by the audience owing to not only the talent of their author, but also Rossini’s and Mozart’s music.

Beaumarchais possessed multiple talents and was interested in various fields of study – from technical inventions in clockwork to the development of a course of general criminal law, – while his life was full of unexpectedness, struggle and events, rises and falls.

The National Library of Belarus presents a book exhibition “The writer’s game” dedicated to the 280th anniversary from the date of the birth of French dramatist Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais. The anniversary exhibition includes more than 100 editions: the writer’s selected and separate works, graphic materials, printed music and literature about his life and career.

The writer’s works in French such as “Theatre de Beaumarchais”, “Oeuvres choisies de Beaumarchais” (1818) and others are on display.

Beaumarchais gained glory as a writer thanks to his “Memoirs” edited in five issues in 1773-1774. In the “Memoirs” it was told about what was done behind the scenes of the parliament, and the chronicle of litigation in a witty pamphlet style was given. Voltaire wrote: “I have never seen anything bolder or stronger, nor more comical, interesting or shatteringly for the opponent, than the «Memoirs» by Beaumarchais …”. The exhibition presents “Memoirs” (1868) in French and “Memoirs” (2008) published in Russian.

The book by Rene de Castries “Beaumarchais” (2003) published in series “Outstanding People’s Life” is festinating. It reveals absolutely unexpected features in the portrait of the brilliant playwright. Riches and poverty, the skilled watchmaker, the judge, the speculator, the lampoonist, the secret agent, the weapon dealer, the publisher, the claimant and the respondent, the subjugator of female hearts, the person of extraordinary wit – all this can be found in the book by Rene de Castries.

The books by E. Radzinsky “The Writers’ Games: Unpublished Beaumarchais” (2001) and “The Mystery of Beaumarchais” (2006) written in unusual style reveal interesting facts as well.

The exhibition is designed for foreign literature professors and teachers, students and senior pupils, and also for everyone who is interested in classical French dramatic art.