1732–1799 · French playwright & author of the Figaro comedies
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732–1799) was a French playwright, watchmaker, inventor and financier best remembered for the two Figaro comedies — Le Barbier de Séville (1775) and Le Mariage de Figaro (1784), later set to music by Rossini and Mozart. The quip about singing what isn’t worth saying is spoken by his fast-talking valet Figaro in the first play’s opening act.