Luigi Riccoboni

Born Luigi Andrea Riccoboni in Modena, Duchy of Modena and Reggio he was the son of Antonio Riccoboni, who played Pantalone in London in 1678–1679. In 1699 Luigi Riccoboni established a commedia dell'arte troupe in the French style in northern Italy, since in his view the Italian tradition had become overly decadent. He also translated some of the plays of Molière and Racine into Italian.

In the spring of 1716 the French Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, asked his cousin, the Duke of Parma, to send him a troupe of Italian actors to revive the Comédie-Italienne in Paris, which had been disbanded nearly twenty years previous. To avoid some of the difficulties of the earlier troupe, he specified that its leader should be a man of good character and manners. Riccoboni was chosen, and in a few weeks he assembled a group of ten actors, all of whom were devout Christians. The troupe was meant to perform in the Hôtel de Bourgogne, which had been vacant since 1697, but that theatre needed renovation, so they initially played at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on days when the Opéra was not performing. Even after moving to the Bourgogne, the troupe continued to perform at the Palais-Royal on Mondays and Saturdays until the death of the Regent in 1723. • Illustration — Play list, 1718 As a director, Riccoboni initially had difficulty retaining audiences with improvised plays in Italian. More and more he turned to written texts and a style of presentation that was tailored to local tastes, along with an ever increasing use of the French language. In February 1718 he successfully revived some of the old plays of Évariste Gherardi, the director of the Comédie-Italienne in the years prior to 1697. He himself wrote several plays, including L'Italien à Paris and L'Italien francisé in which Italian and French manners were juxtaposed. He also began to produce plays by French playwrights, such as Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine, whose scenario L'Amante difficile was performed in Italian. The first play entirely in French was Le Naufrage au Port à l'Anglais by Jacques Autreau. Riccoboni achieved his greatest acclaim for his expressive acting, particularly in the plays of Marivaux. Riccoboni appeared in London in 1728–1729.

In 1729 he asked to retire with his wife and son; which was granted, while retaining for him and his wife a pension of 1000 livres each. He was at the Court of the Duke of Parma, who gave him the stewardship of his house; but the death of this Prince in 1731 produced his return finally to France. In retirement he wrote several books on theatre in Italian and French. His Réflexions historiques sur les théâtres de l'Europe (Paris, 1738), although incomplete, was the first comparative study of the theatres of Italy, Spain, France, England, Holland, Flanders and Germany. It was translated into English as An Historical and Critical Account of the Theatres of Europe (London, 1741). He died in Paris on 6 December 1753 and was buried at Saint-Sauveur.

Riccoboni married twice, first to actress Gabriella Gardellini (stage name Argentina), and second to Elena Balletti (1686–1771; stage name Flaminia). His son Antoine-François Riccoboni (1707–1772) was an actor who used the stage name Lélio fils and in 1734 married Marie-Jeanne de La Boras.