Edmond Rostand – late 19th–early 20th-century French playwright, author of Cyrano de Bergerac and L’Aiglon. His romantic dramas restored poetry to the stage in an age of naturalism. A member of the Académie Française, he became known as the “last great romantic” of French theatre.
🎭 The premiere of Cyrano de Bergerac (1897) was a sensation – actor Constant Coquelin performed it over 400 times in a row. 📜 The play blended history, poetry, and comedy, standing against Zola’s naturalism. 👑 L’Aiglon, about Napoleon’s son, earned Rostand the Légion d’honneur. 🏛️ Elected to the Académie Française in 1901 – one of its youngest members. 🌍 His plays were staged worldwide, especially loved in Latin America. 📖 Wrote poetry too, but is remembered primarily as a dramatist. ❤️ Married poetess Rosemonde Gérard, to whom he dedicated verses. 🏠 Spent his final years in Provence at his villa “Cyrano.” 😲 Curious fact: at Cyrano’s premiere, the ovation lasted over an hour. 😄 Funny fact: Rostand feared the stage and never read his plays aloud in public.