Dominique-Alexandre Parodi
Dominique-Alexandre Parodi , known as Alexandre, was a naturalised French writer, poet and dramatist of Graeco-Italian extraction.
Biography
He was born in Chania, Crete, to Margarita Vitale and Domenico Parodi. His mother was from Smyrna in western Anatolia and his father was Genoese, born in Loano, Liguria. He was the fourth of seven children. He lived in Smyrna from 1843 until 1861. He moved to Milan and then Genoa where he married Vittoria d'Aste, daughter of the playwright Ippolito d'Aste and granddaughter of the Genoese printer Antonio Ponthenier. They had two sons: Dominique Hippolyte Tite Marius a philosopher and educational administrator, and Hippolyte a pioneering civil electrical engineer.He worked as a journalist and columnist for several Italian newspapers, including L'Illustrazione Italiana. He settled permanently in Paris in 1871 having published his first book in France in 1865. He continued to write poetry and articles for Italian journals, particularly in L'Illustrazione under titles such as Notizie Letterarie and Corriere di parigi, Paris, survived by his wife and two sons.
Written works
Poetry
- Passions et Idées Paris, E.Dentu
- Nouvelles Messéniennes, 1867, Brussels, Genoese edition for the benefit of Cretans.
- Cris de la chair et de l'âme Paris, E.Dentu
Plays
- Rome vaincue, a tragedy in verse in five acts Paris, E. Dentu. Performed at the Comédie française on 27 September 1876 with Sarah Bernhardt. It was later translated into Italian by Ippolito Tito D'Aste and played from 1902, then adapted for opera by Jules Massenet under the name Roma, with a libretto by Henri Caïn Paris, C.Lévy.
- Ulm le parricide, a tragedy in verse Paris, Michel Lévy frères. Performed first on 1 May 1870 at the Matinées Ballande at the Gaîté theatre, with Paul Félix Taillade.
- Sephora, mystère, a biblical poem in two acts Paris, E.Dentu
- Le Triomphe de la paix, symphonic ode in three parts Paris, E.Dentu. Performed with music by Samuel David, 18 February 1879, Théâtre lyrique Ventadour.
- L'Inflexible, a drama, 8 November 1884
- La Jeunesse de François Ier. Marignan-Pavie , a historical tragedy in verse in three acts Paris, E.Dentu
- La Reine Juana, a drama Paris, E.Dentu. Performed at the Comédie française, 6 May 1893, directed by Frédérique Febvre avec Mlle Brandis in the role of Floresta, M. Leitner in the role of Ferdinand d'Aragon.
- La Juive de Grenade qui devient ensuite Dom Ruy, a drama, performed at the Comédie française
- Les Rivales
- Le Pape, a tragedy in five acts Paris, A.Hennuyer
- Francesca di Rimini, a tragedy by Silvio Pellico.
Books
- The Last of the Popes, his first French novel, written anonymously in L'Illustrazione.
- Le Théâtre en France, Paris, A.Hennuyer
Legacy