Désiré Guillaume Édouard Monnais (27 May 1798 – 25 February 1868) was a French journalist, theater director, playwright and librettist.
[1] In 1836 he took a position at the Interior Ministry and in 1838 became Commissioner of Opera and soon afterward, the Paris Conservatory.
[2] Monnais wrote as a critic for Revue et gazette musicale de Paris and Le Courrier français, during which time he reviewed the work of artists including Balzac[3] and Verdi.
[5] He retired from public service a month before his death, and died in Paris after a lengthy illness.
His funeral was held in the Notre Dame de Lorette and he was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.