Biography

Léonie Simaga, born in 1978 in Marseille, is a French actress and director, member of the Comédie-Française from 2010 to 2015. Her father and mother met in Rennes during their studies. She, from Brittany, is preparing to teach French. He, from Mali, is an agricultural engineer. His Breton grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Le Gall, died during the liberation of Brest in 1944, was decorated with the Legion of Honor. After her baccalaureate obtained at the House of Education of the Legion of Honor, she entered hypokhâgne, then khâgne in Parisian high schools and then obtained her diploma from the Institute of Political Studies of Paris4 (class of 20025). She also holds a degree in history. She studied theater at the Asnières Studio-theater, then at the National Higher Conservatory of Dramatic Art from 2002 to 2005. She played at the Comédie-Française in Esther by Racine, then in 2004, in Papa must eat by Marie NDiaye . She was hired as a resident in 2005. She notably performed the role of the Infanta in Corneille's Le Cid during the 2005-2006 season, and in 2007 played the role of Chimène in the same play, alternating with the role of Lucietta in Goldoni's play Il campiello. She became a member of the Comédie-Française on January 1, 2010. Léonie Simaga also directs several productions for the Comédie-Française such as, in 2007, Pour un oui ou pour un non by Nathalie Sarraute and, in 2014, Othello by William Shakespeare. She left the Comédie-Française at the end of 2015.