Dorothea Celesia
Encyclopedia
Dorothea Celesia was a poet and playwright best known for Almida, her translation of Voltaire's Tancrède (1760).
She was the youngest child of David Mallet
(ca. 1701–1765), playwright and poet, and his first wife, Susanna (d. 1742). She was educated at home, and in 1758 she married Pietro Paolo Celesia (d. 1806), Ambassador to England (1755 to 1759). She moved with her husband to Genoa in 1759 and remained there until her death. David Garrick
visited her when in Italy and produced her blank verse tragedy, Almida, at the Drury Lane Theatre
in 1771. The play had a successful run of ten nights and afforded Celesia with some short-lived celebrity. Her version is notable for its shift of focus from the warrior Tancred, as in Voltaire's original, to Almida, the heroine, and the latter's assertion of her right to choose her own spouse. Celesia's second major work was a long poem in blank verse, Indolence (1772). Her proposed translation of Voltaire's heroic tragedy Sémiramis (1746) never materialized.
She was the youngest child of David Mallet
David Mallet (writer)
David Mallet was a Scottish dramatist.He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and went to London in 1723 to work as a private tutor...
(ca. 1701–1765), playwright and poet, and his first wife, Susanna (d. 1742). She was educated at home, and in 1758 she married Pietro Paolo Celesia (d. 1806), Ambassador to England (1755 to 1759). She moved with her husband to Genoa in 1759 and remained there until her death. David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
visited her when in Italy and produced her blank verse tragedy, Almida, at the Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
in 1771. The play had a successful run of ten nights and afforded Celesia with some short-lived celebrity. Her version is notable for its shift of focus from the warrior Tancred, as in Voltaire's original, to Almida, the heroine, and the latter's assertion of her right to choose her own spouse. Celesia's second major work was a long poem in blank verse, Indolence (1772). Her proposed translation of Voltaire's heroic tragedy Sémiramis (1746) never materialized.