DESGARCINS, MAGDELEINE-MARIE

original name Louise Desgarcins born 1769, Mont Dauphin, Fr. died Oct. 27, 1797, Paris one of the greatest of French tragediennes. Desgarcins made her debut at the Comdie-Franaise in Jean Racine's Bajazet (1788) and was at once made a full member of the company. When the conflicts of the Revolution caused a split in the company in 1791, she and Franois Talma, with whom she usually appeared, formed a new company in which she triumphed in King Lear, Othello, and J.-F. de La Harpe's Mlanie et Virginie. She died insane.