# Saint-Fal

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{{short description|French stage actor}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Saint-Fal
| image         = Saint-Fal (cropped).jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = 
| birth_name    = Étienne Meynier 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1752|06|10|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France)
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1835|11|22|1752|06|10|df=y}}
| death_place   = Paris, France
| burial_place  = [Père Lachaise cemetery](/source/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_cemetery)
| other_names   = Saint Phal
| occupation    = stage actor
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = 
| relatives     = [Charles Meynier](/source/Charles_Meynier) (brother)
}}
'''Saint-Fal''', real name Étienne Meynier (or Saint Phal) (10 June 1752 – 22 November 1835) was a French stage actor.

== Biography ==
Étienne Meynier was born in [Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France) on 10 June 1752.

After he participated in an amateur troupe, he integrated that of [Mademoiselle Montansier](/source/Mademoiselle_Montansier) at [Versailles](/source/Versailles), then moved to [The Hague](/source/The_Hague) where he stayed three years.

He performed in [Lyon](/source/Lyon) in 1781, then at the [Théâtre de la Monnaie](/source/La_Monnaie) in Brussels.

On 8 July 1782, Saint-Fal made his debut at the [Comédie-Française](/source/Com%C3%A9die-Fran%C3%A7aise) in ''Gaston et Bayard''<ref>[http://data.bnf.fr/39501039/gaston_et_bayard_spectacle_1806/ ''Gaston et Bayard''] on [data.bnf.fr](/source/data.bnf.fr)</ref> by [Belloy](/source/Pierre-Laurent_Buirette_de_Belloy). Received as a test on 17 March 1783, he was definitely admitted on 25 March of the following year.

At the time of the [French Revolution](/source/French_Revolution), Saint-Fal was denounced by [La Bussière](/source/Charles_de_La_Buissi%C3%A8re) and thrown into jail.

On his release, he joined [Mlle Raucourt](/source/Mlle_Raucourt) at the [Théâtre Louvois](/source/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_Louvois) and then gave the exact measure of his talent. On the night of 2 September 1793, he was arrested again, along with 12 other comedians in the [Théâtre Français](/source/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_Fran%C3%A7ais) remained loyal to the monarchy, as "suspects" and imprisoned in the [Madelonnettes Convent](/source/Madelonnettes_Convent), for playing a theatrical performance judged seditious: ''[Pamela](/source/Pamela%3B_or%2C_Virtue_Rewarded)''.<ref>On 1 August 1793, on the stage of the [théâtre de la Nation](/source/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_de_l'Od%C3%A9on), [Nicolas François de Neufchâteau](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Neufch%C3%A2teau) had a [comedy](/source/comedy) in verses performed: ''[Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded](/source/Pamela%3B_or%2C_Virtue_Rewarded)'', after the novel by [Samuel Richardson](/source/Samuel_Richardson), imitated from [Goldoni](/source/Carlo_Goldoni). The day of the ninth representation, as the curtain was about to rise, a police officer came in the name of the [Committee of Public Safety](/source/Committee_of_Public_Safety) which forbade the play because of these two verses deemed subversive:<br> 
''Ah ! les persécuteurs sont les seuls condamnables.'' (Ah! the persecutors are the only condemnable)<br />''Et les plus tolérants sont les seuls raisonnables.'' (And the most tolerant are the only reasonable)<br> 
Francois de Neufchateau then made the corrections required by the Committee but said committee signed a [ministerial order](/source/ministerial_order) closing the theater and delivered a charge against François de Neufchateau. He was incarcerated, as well as his comédians. Among the 13 actors (actresses were jailed at [Sainte-Pélagie Prison](/source/Sainte-P%C3%A9lagie_Prison)) of the [Théâtre Français](/source/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_Fran%C3%A7ais) incarcerated at the [Madelonnettes Convent](/source/Madelonnettes_Convent), were:
* [Fleury](/source/Abraham-Joseph_B%C3%A9nard)
* [Louise Contat](/source/Louise_Contat)
* [Dazincourt](/source/Dazincourt)
* [François-René Molé](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%A9_Mol%C3%A9)
* [Charlotte Vanhove](/source/Charlotte_Vanhove)
* [Saint-Prix](/source/Saint-Prix_(actor))
* Saint-Fal.</ref>

At the fusion of the two troupes of French actors, he took over from his model, actor [Molé](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%A9_Mol%C3%A9), and became dean of the [Comédie-Française](/source/Com%C3%A9die-Fran%C3%A7aise). He retired in 1824, eleven years before he died. He died in Paris, France on 22 November 1835 and is buried in the 19th division of the [Père Lachaise cemetery](/source/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_cemetery).

His brother [Charles Meynier](/source/Charles_Meynier) (1768–1832) was a renowned painter.

== See also ==
* [Troupe of the Comédie-Française in 1790](/source/Troupe_of_the_Com%C3%A9die-Fran%C3%A7aise_in_1790)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k438942n/f1.image.r=lachaise.langFR Journal des débats politiques et littéraires, 24 november 1835] read on line

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Category:18th-century French male actors
Category:19th-century French male actors

Category:Troupe of the Comédie-Française
Category:Male actors from Paris
Category:1752 births
Category:1835 deaths
Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Saint-Fal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Fal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Fal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.