Who is Edmond Rostand and why is Google Doodle celebrating French Poet and dramatist? Rostand was born on the 1st of April 1868 in Marseille, France with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father was a wealthy economist who came from a cultured Provencal family.
Rostand was a known poet that translated the work of “Catullus”. Edmond was a member of the Marseille Academy and the Institute de France. He attended Stanislas College in Paris, France where he studied literature, history, and philosophy. Edmond Rostand full name is Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand.
Edmond Rostran Early Life and Career
Edmond Rostand started his career at the age of 20. Where his first play was “a one-act comedy, “Le Gant Rouge” which took place on the 24th of August 1888 at the Cluny Theatre. However, Rostand could not gain the attention of the listening as at that because it was a one-act comedy.
As a poet, Edmond published a volume of poems titled “Les Musardises” in 1890. In 180, he also got a cast to play in one-act Pierrot plays in verse to the director of the Théâtre François. He was given the opportunity to write for the state theatre a three-act play instead of the one-act play he was used to.
However, Edmond’s career started as a dramatist on the 21s of May 1894 when Les Romanesquess was produced at Théâtre François. This play was adapted after almost a century by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt in 1960 in “The Fantasticks,” the long-running American musical drama.
As Edmond continue his dramatist career, he wrote his next play for Sarah Berhardt and the play opened on the 5th of April 1895 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance. Rostand’s career became a huge success after the production of his heroic comedy, Cyrano de Bergerac on the 28th of December 1897 at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin where the popular French actor, Benoît-Constant Coquelin was also starred.
This drama lasts for over 300 consecutive nights and it was recorded as the greatest drama in verse since the time f Hugo’s Hernani. However, due to the success of the play, it was translated into some European languages including English, German, and Russian language.
Until Rostand’s death, Cyrano de Bergerac was his heroic drama full of charisma and courage. In the 17th century, Edmond Rostand was one of the greatest researchers who delved into the background history of the French.
Edmond wrote the play “L’Aiglon” for “Sarah Bernhardt for his Exposition Universelle in Paris. However, to wow the audience that were looking at the drama to include some patriotic subjects, he choose a subject from Napoleonic history which was assumed to have been suggested by Henri Welschinger’s Roi de Rome, 1811 -32(1897). The drama was a summary of the unhappy life of the son of Napoleon, “Duke of Reichstadt” that was produced on the 15th of March 1900.
Edmond was elected into the Académie française as the youngest writer in 1902. And in 1903, he relocated to Cambo-les-bains,Basque Pyrenees due to his health challenges.
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Edmond Rostand Wife: Rosemonde-Etiennette Gérard
Edmond was married to Rosemonde-Étienette Gérard a poet and playwriter in 1890. Their union was published in Les Pipeaux. Rostand and Rosemonde had two sons, Jean and Maurice. Rosemonde Gérard was born on the 5th of April 1871 and died on the 8th of July 1953, 35 years after her husband, Edmond Rostand had died.
Rosemonde was also from a wealthy background, his grandfather, Étienne Maurice Gérard was a Marshal and France’s Prime Minister and the 1st Comte. He died on the 17th of April 1852 a year before Edmond Rostand’s wife was born.
Edmond Rostand Children
Edmond and his wife, Rosemonde, had two songs together before Edmond and Rosemonde died in 1918 and 1953 respectively.
Maurice Rostand was the first son of the great poet and dramatic, Edmond. He was born on the 26th of May 1891 in Paris, France. He was a renowned French author, novelist, dramatist, and poet just like his father. Maurice died on the 21st of February, 1968 at the age of 76.
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Jean Rostand was the only brother of Maurice Rostand. He was a French biologist and philosopher who also became recognized for his research in biology which includes research on amphibians, embryology, parthenogenesis, and teratogeny. Jean was born on the 30th of October 1894 and died on the 4th of September 1977 at the age of 82.
Edmond Rostand Google Doodle
Why is Google celebrating Edmond Rostand, the prolific poet and dramatist today? 
Aside from the fact that Rostand is a poet and dramatist, he is also known for “Cyrano de Bergerac” which is a play centred around “Chivalrous Swordsman wearing an oversize shoe.” The Edmond play depicts the true spirit of French history. And this, Google is celebrating the renowned dramatist with an artwork showing Rostand holding a pen up and a book.
Edmond Rostand Works
Edmond’s death was premature as he died at the age of 50. His wife, Rosemonde died 35 years later at the age of 85. While his two sons died at 72 and 83 respectively. However, some of his notable works include:
- Le Gant Rouge, 1888 (The Red Glove)
- Les Musardises, 1890
- Les Deux Pierrots, ou Le Souper blanc (The Two Pierrots, or The White Supper), 1891
- Les Romanesques, 1894 (the basis for the 1960 off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks)
- La Princesse Lointaine (The Princess Far-Away), 1895
- La Samaritaine (The Woman of Samaria), 1897
- Cyrano de Bergerac, 1897
- L’Aiglon: A Play in Six Acts. 1900
- Chantecler: A Play in Four Acts, 1910
- La Dernière Nuit de Don Juan (The Last Night of Don Juan, in Poetic Drama), 1921
- Le Cantique de L’Aile, 1922
- Le Vol de la Marseillaise, 1922