Polyanthe


Alexandre Chaponnier called Polyanthe was a 19th-century French physician, painter, engraver, and playwright.
Also known under the sole first name Alexandre, he was the son of the French painter and engraver of Swiss origin Alexandre Chaponnier.

Biography

Throughout his life, Alexander Chaponnier led several front activities: that of physician and surgeon, that of writer and playwright and that, like his father, of painter and engraver.
The titles recalled in his works alone summarize the full range of his personal and professional choices: "médecin de la Faculté de Paris, chirurgien-accoucheur, démonstrateur d'anatomie à l'usage des peintres et professeur de physiologie ; membre correspondant de l'Académie Royale de Rouen et de plusieurs sociétés savantes".
His practitioner activity occupied most of his time. Holder of a doctorate in medicine from the Faculty of Paris, he was a doctor, surgeon-obstetrician then moved towards teaching and research in oncology, diseases of bones and skin lesions where he advocated the use of barium carbonate.
As a playwright, he is best known for his participation under the pen name Polyanthe, with Antier and Saint-Amand, to the writing of the drama L'Auberge des Adrets, premiered in 1823. Meant to be a dark melodrama, Frédérick Lemaître, sensing the failure of the play, conceived to turn it into a joke. If Antier and St. Amand took their advantage of the changes introduced by Lemaitre, Polyanthe vowed "relentless grudge" to the famous actor.

Works