Pauline Thys, born in Paris in 1835, was the daughter of composer Alphonse Thys and Zoé Gaugé. She became known for her ballads beginning in 1856. In 1857, she performed La Pomme de Turquie at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, an opéra bouffe on her own libretto which met with great success. This began her production of operettas and opéra-comiques, some of which were also on her own librettos: L’Héritier sans le savoir (1858), La Perruque du Bailli (1860), Quand Dieu est dans le ménage, Dieu le garde (1860), La Pays de Cocagne (1862), Manette (1865), Le Fruit vert (1875), Le Mariage de Tabarin (1876), Le Cabaret du Pot-Cassé (1878), L’Éducation d’Achille (1884), and La Loi jaune (1887). Le Mariage de Tabarin, her most important work, was performed in concert version at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in 1876, and greatly lauded by the press. Its stage version was then performed in Florence in late 1881, titled La Congiùra di Chevreuse, followed by a French staged version in Reims in 1885, with at least one known reprise in Rennes in 1886-1887. Pauline Thys also performed an opera, Nedjeya (on a libretto by Pierre Nemo, originally in Italian), in Naples in 1880. Her tragédie lyrique Judith was performed in concert version in 1883. She also planned an opera, Gloria Victis, of which only the libretto survives. Tragically, nearly all of her works have been lost: only La Pomme de Turquie and Le Mariage de Tabarin survive, and their orchestral scores have yet to be found. Pauline Thys was committed to supporting women musicians, and in 1877 she founded the Association des femmes artistes et professeurs. She was also active as a novelist and playwright. She married twice – in 1860 to doctor Charles Sébault, and in 1886 to army officer N. Marque du Coin.
Note that contrary to what is stated in several publications, she is not the author of Alda, performed at the Opéra-Comique. This was rather a work by her father, Alphonse Thys.

– Florence Launay –

[Traduction en anglais : Raphaël Meyer]