"Marie Françoise Dumesnil (2 January 1713 – 20 February 1803), original name Marie-Françoise Marchand, was a French actress.
She was born in Paris, daughter of a poor nobleman,[citation ...
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needed] and began her stage career in the provinces, whence she was summoned in 1737 to make her debut at the Comédie-Française as Clytemnestre in Racine's Iphigénie en Aulide. She at once came into the front rank, playing Cléopâtre, Phèdre, Athalie and Hermione (tragic roles created by contemporary French playwrights) with great effect, and when she created Merope (1743), Voltaire says that she kept the audience in tears for three successive acts." - (en.wikipedia.org 24.05.2021)
