Louise Bertin

Her father, Louis-François Bertin, and also later her brother, were the editors of Journal des débats, an influential newspaper.

She received lessons from François-Joseph Fétis, who directed a private family performance of Guy Mannering, Bertin's first opera, in 1825.

At age 21, Bertin began working on the opera semiseria Fausto to her own libretto in Italian, based on Goethe's Faust, a subject "almost certainly suggested" by her father.

[2] A performance of the opera was scheduled for 1830, but due to many unforeseen complications, Fausto did not reach the stage until 1831.

The composer Hector Berlioz, who helped Bertin with the staging and production of La Esmeralda, was also accused of providing the better music of this work, a charge he vehemently denied.