one of the greatest of French tragediennes.

Desgarcins made her debut at the Comédie-Française in Jean Racine's Bajazet (1788) and was at once made a full member of the company. When the conflicts of the Revolution caused a split in the company in 1791, she and François Talma, with whom she usually appeared, formed a new company in which she triumphed in King Lear, Othello, and J.-F. de La Harpe's Mélanie et Virginie. She died insane.