Laurent Mourguet, the creator of Guignol, was born in Lyon in 1769, into a family of silk workers. At a very young age, he learned the trade of weaver. Around 1797, he began practicing as a "tooth puller". In the tradition of this trade, he set up a small puppet theater to attract customers, presenting plays from the Commedia dell'arte. More passionate about theater than tooth extraction, in 1804 he set up a small puppet theater where he improvised part of the show, inspired by current events. This habit remained, allowing Guignol to express his rebellious and satirical spirit.
The origins of Gnafron
He then teamed up with an already well-known public entertainer, Lambert Grégoire Ladré, nicknamed Father Thomas, known for his puns and mockery. Their complicity was total. They both understood that to achieve success, they had to offer something other than the Italian puppets. However, their understanding with Father Thomas was short-lived because he had a habit of picking his nose. To replace him, Mourguet created a puppet full of eloquence and gaiety: Gnafron was born, derived from the Lyon word "gnaffre", meaning shoemaker. This character is portrayed with truculence, sporting a dented top hat, a leather apron, and a swollen and red nose.
Origins of an iconic character
In 1808, Mourguet sculpted a puppet in his own image: a round face, two mischievous eyes and a friendly little upturned nose. He dressed it in the fashion of Father Coquart, like the canuts of his time, with a brown suit decorated with gold buttons and a red bow tie. He gives him a soft black leather hat with earflaps folded over his "sarsifis" (a ribboned braid of hair). As for the origin of the name Guignol, it remains subject to debate, with more than ten different explanations despite the two centuries that have passed since its creation, due to the lack of clear documents.
Guignol: the spokesperson for the modest
Mourguet then created other characters and gained notoriety when he opened a café-théâtre, shaping Guignol into his definitive form of satire and parody based on the flaws of his contemporaries. Beyond comedy, with his simple morality and mocking wit, Guignol denounced injustices and became the spokesperson for modest people and the marginalized. Armed with his stick, which he also called "tavelle", "clarinet to make bears dance" or "racinet of America", Guignol embodied a vigilante. As Louis Jacquemin wrote: "They fool the rich and the powerful, hit the police, mock landlords, bailiffs and even judges in order to defend themselves..."
This mixture of mischief, bravado and insolence means that, two centuries later, Guignol remains as popular as ever.
