Camille Doucet

He was a solicitor's clerk and notary, the secretary of Baron Fain in the cabinet of King Louis-Philippe, then the general manager of theater administration at the ministry of the Emperor's Household in 1863.

Several times a candidate for the Académie Française, he was elected a member in 1865 and was the permanent secretary from 1876.

As Manager of Theater Administration, in 1867 Camille Doucet authorized the café-concerts "to use costumes, cross-dressing; to perform plays, to have interludes of dance and acrobatics";[1] these measures would support the further development of large venues, such as the Folies Bergère or the Olympia.

Although Flaubert complained of him,[2] he had a reputation for honesty and kindness; the memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt show that he supported her debuts at the Comédie-Française and gave her entry to the Odéon.

Camille Doucet was the author of several poems and numerous plays: vaudevilles, operas, comedies in verse.