JEAN NICOLAS BOUILLY (1763-1842), French author, was born near Tours on the 24th of January 1763. At the outbreak of the Revolution he held office under the new government, and had a considerable share in the organization of primary education. In 1799 he retired from public life to devote himself to literature. His numerous works include the musical comedy, Pierre le Grand (1790), for Gretry's music, and the opera, Les Deux Journees (1800), music by Cherubini; also L' Abbe de l'epee (1800), and some other plays; and Causeries d'un vieillard (1807), Contes a ma fille (1809), and Les Adieux du vieux conteur (1835). His Leonore (1798) formed the basis of the libretto of the Fidelio of Beethoven. Bouilly died in Paris on the 14th of April 1842.
See Bouilly, Mes recapitulations (3 vols., 1836-1837); E. Legouve, Soixante ans de souvenir (I ere partie, 1886).