The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Cogniard, Théodore

COGNIARD, Théodore, a French playwright, born April 30, 1806, died in Paris, May 25, 18.72. With his surviving brother, Hippolyte (born Nov. 20, 1807), he wrote hundreds of vaudevilles and fairy plays, many of which had a great run, especially La biche aux bois. He brought into vogue the opera bouffe. Offenbach's Belle-Hélène, Barbe-bleue, Grande Duchesse, and Périchole were first performed under his sole direction at the Variétés theatre, his brother Hippolyte having retired in 1869.