A French dramatist. Beaumarchais was born in Paris on 24 January 1732, the son of a watchmaker. On 7 March 1721 his father, André-Charles Caron, then twenty-three, had formally renounced the Protestant faith, which allowed him to leave the army, marry Mademoiselle Marie-Louise Pichon and open a watchmaker's shop on the rue Saint-Denis in Paris. There were six children in the Caron household: Pierre-Augustin and five daughters — Marie-Josèphe, Marie-Louise, Madeleine-Françoise, Marie-Julie and Jeanne-Marguerite. From six to thirteen Pierre-Augustin studied at the school at Alfort, learning French, history and Latin. At thirteen his father took him on as an apprentice, and at fourteen bound him by a contract: “In summer you will rise at six, in winter at seven; you will work until supper [...] you will employ the talents God has given you solely to make your name in your trade. Remember that it is shame and dishonour to crawl in our profession, and that if you do not become first in it you are unworthy of respect; the love of this most beautiful of crafts must enter your heart and wholly absorb your mind. [...] You will entirely give up your wretched music [...] out of indulgence to your weakness I permit you to play the viol and the flute only after supper on weekdays, and on no account in working hours [...]. You will receive from me your board and eighteen livres a month, which will go toward your keep, toward small expenses on the purchase of an inexpensive instrument, and toward the gradual repayment of your debts; it would be too dangerous for your character, and most unseemly for me, to pay you a wage and settle accounts with you for work done.” (F. Grendel, Beaumarchais)
By twenty Beaumarchais was the first watchmaker of France. In 1753 not a single clock told the exact time: nobles and commoners alike lived by the half-hour, more or less, and every watchmaker in Europe was searching for a way to make the wheels run true. Beaumarchais swore to himself that he would reduce that half-hour to nothing, and he succeeded, making a discovery that revolutionized a craft already five centuries old and that has lasted two hundred years: the watch you wear on your wrist contains what is known as the Beaumarchais escapement.
At thirteen Beaumarchais fell madly in love for the first time; the lady of his heart threw the young man over, and Pierre-Augustin attempted to take his own life. The life of the famous dramatist was full of adventures: music lessons; two marriages to rich widows; lucky financial speculations; a duel in Spain with the writer Clavijo, seducer of Pierre-Augustin's sister (the duel furnished the plot of Beaumarchais's drama “Eugénie” and of Goethe's “Clavigo”); a string of lawsuits — with the heirs of the banker Duverney, and with the judge Goezman over the bribing of his wife. During the French Revolution he supplied arms, was ruined, and fled. Beaumarchais died in Paris on 18 May 1799.