Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin Caron de

Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin Caron de

Pierre Beaumarchais, oil painting by Jean-Marc Nattier.

(credit: Giraudon/Art Resource, New York)

(born Jan. 24, 1732, Paris, France—died May 18, 1799, Paris) French playwright. Son of a watchmaker, he invented a clockwork mechanism and became embroiled in lawsuits over its patent; a series of witty pamphlets he wrote in his defense established his reputation as a writer. His comedy The Barber of Seville (1772) was kept off the stage for three years because it criticized the aristocracy. His Marriage of Figaro (1784) similarly censured the nobility and it, too, was initially banned. The plays became famous operas by Gioacchino Rossini and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, respectively. He founded the Société des Auteurs (1777) to enable playwrights to obtain royalty payments. His wealth led, ironically, to his temporary imprisonment during the French Revolution, an event his plays were sometimes said to have sparked.