Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon an Charles Nuittier and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon a macabre story by E.T.A. Hoffmann entitled "Der Sandmann" ("The Sandman"), published in 1815. The ballet premiered May 25, 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra, with Giuseppina Bozzachi in the principal role of Swanilda. Its first flush of success was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of Paris, but eventually it became the most-performed ballet at the Opera Garnier.