Magdeleine-Marie Desgarcins

French actress
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Also known as: Louise Desgarcins
Quick Facts
Original name:
Louise Desgarcins
Born:
1769, Mont Dauphin, France
Died:
October 27, 1797, Paris (aged 28)

Magdeleine-Marie Desgarcins (born 1769, Mont Dauphin, France—died October 27, 1797, Paris) was one of the greatest of French tragediennes.

Desgarcins made her debut at the Comédie-Française in Jean Racine’s Bajazet (1788) and was at once made a full member of the company. When the conflicts of the Revolution caused a split in the company in 1791, she and François Talma, with whom she usually appeared, formed a new company in which she triumphed in King Lear, Othello, and J.-F. de La Harpe’s Mélanie et Virginie. She died insane.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.