Henri Duponchel

Henri Duponchel (28 July 1794 – 8 April 1868)^[1] was in turn a French architect, interior designer, costume designer, stage designer, stage director, managing director of the Paris Opera, and a silversmith. He has often been confused with Charles-Edmond Duponchel, a contemporary who also lived and worked in Paris.^[2]

^ Dion-Tenenbaum 1997, pp. 66, 73. His name at birth was spelled 'Henry', which was changed much later to 'Henri'. Huebner 1992 gives Duponchel's day of birth as 25 July and his first names as "Charles (Edmond)" (for the difference in names, see below). According to Tamvaco 2000, p. 963, the confusion between 25 and 28 July derives from the obituary of Duponchel by Boudin 1868, where Duponchel's date of birth is given as 25 July 1794 as well as the French Revolutionary Calendar date of 10 Thermidor an II (which would have been used in official documents at the time of Duponchel's birth). The latter date actually corresponds to 28 July 1794. An even earlier source, the Belgian Annuaire dramatique pour 1843, p. 20 has the entry "28 July 1794 Duponchel (Henri), ex-dir. of the Gr. Op." Other sources give 1795 as the year of Duponchel's birth. One of the earliest is Vapereau 1858, p. 38, and 1795 is repeated in two other obituaries (cited by Tamvaco 2000, p. 963: Marx 1868 and Énault 1868).
^ The confusion of identities, resulting in Charles-Edmond Duponchel's first names being given to Henri Duponchel, was made early on. Vapereau 1858, p. 38, gives the incorrect name (as well the incorrect 1795 as the year of his birth), as does Larousse 1870, p. 1412. Incorrect first names have frequently and persistently been used by various authors, even quite recently (for example, Kelly 2004, p. 172, identifies the director of the Opéra as Charles-Edmond Duponchel), despite Dion-Tenenbaum's 1997 paper, and even earlier, Ivor Guest's 1956 biography of Fanny Cerrito (see p. 117) and his 1981 compilation of the correspondence of Arthur Saint-Léon, which includes three letters: no. 4 to "Henry Duponchel", dated at the bottom "2nd August 1847"; no.5 to "Henri Duponchel", dated at the bottom "10.8.47 London"; and no. 6 to "Henri Duponchel", dated at the top "Bath, 1st Sept. 1847" and at the bottom "Bath 1/9/47" (see Guest 1981, p. 39, and pp. 40 and 41; provenance: Archives Nationales, Paris, Series AJ¹³: Box 477). More evidence comes from a legal document concerning his mother's will, which identifies him as Henri Duponchel (Ledru-Rollin & Levesque 1847, p. 543). In addition, as Tamvaco mentions, the rare extant letters written by Duponchel have his monogram "H. D" as the letterhead (Tamvaco 2000, p. 963 note 200).

[1] Dion-Tenenbaum 1997, pp. 66, 73. His name at birth was spelled 'Henry', which was changed much later to 'Henri'. Huebner 1992 gives Duponchel's day of birth as 25 July and his first names as "Charles (Edmond)" (for the difference in names, see below). According to Tamvaco 2000, p. 963, the confusion between 25 and 28 July derives from the obituary of Duponchel by Boudin 1868, where Duponchel's date of birth is given as 25 July 1794 as well as the French Revolutionary Calendar date of 10 Thermidor an II (which would have been used in official documents at the time of Duponchel's birth). The latter date actually corresponds to 28 July 1794. An even earlier source, the Belgian Annuaire dramatique pour 1843, p. 20 has the entry "28 July 1794 Duponchel (Henri), ex-dir. of the Gr. Op." Other sources give 1795 as the year of Duponchel's birth. One of the earliest is Vapereau 1858, p. 38, and 1795 is repeated in two other obituaries (cited by Tamvaco 2000, p. 963: Marx 1868 and Énault 1868).

[2] The confusion of identities, resulting in Charles-Edmond Duponchel's first names being given to Henri Duponchel, was made early on. Vapereau 1858, p. 38, gives the incorrect name (as well the incorrect 1795 as the year of his birth), as does Larousse 1870, p. 1412. Incorrect first names have frequently and persistently been used by various authors, even quite recently (for example, Kelly 2004, p. 172, identifies the director of the Opéra as Charles-Edmond Duponchel), despite Dion-Tenenbaum's 1997 paper, and even earlier, Ivor Guest's 1956 biography of Fanny Cerrito (see p. 117) and his 1981 compilation of the correspondence of Arthur Saint-Léon, which includes three letters: no. 4 to "Henry Duponchel", dated at the bottom "2nd August 1847"; no.5 to "Henri Duponchel", dated at the bottom "10.8.47 London"; and no. 6 to "Henri Duponchel", dated at the top "Bath, 1st Sept. 1847" and at the bottom "Bath 1/9/47" (see Guest 1981, p. 39, and pp. 40 and 41; provenance: Archives Nationales, Paris, Series AJ¹³: Box 477). More evidence comes from a legal document concerning his mother's will, which identifies him as Henri Duponchel (Ledru-Rollin & Levesque 1847, p. 543). In addition, as Tamvaco mentions, the rare extant letters written by Duponchel have his monogram "H. D" as the letterhead (Tamvaco 2000, p. 963 note 200).

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