Jean Louis Guez De Balzac
| Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac | |
 | |
Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac | |
| Other names | "The great letter-writer" |
|---|---|
| Activity (s) | writer |
| Birth | 31 May 1597 Angouleme |
| Deaths | 8 February 1654 Angouleme |
| Writing language | French |
| Movement (s) | Baroque literature , libertinism |
| Genre (s) | Epistolary |
| Honors | French Academy (March 1634 ) |
| Major works | |
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Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, born at Angoulme on 31 May 1597 Biography Guez de Balzac called "the restorer of the French language, French is one of the writers who have contributed most to reform the French language. He was the son of the mayor of Angouleme, Jean-Louis Guez, who was ennobled and took the name of the fief of Balzac, bordering the Charente, where he built his castle. After studies at the Jesuits , Guez de Balzac did, in 1612 , studied at the University of Leiden where he was the classmate, and probably lover, Theophile de Viau , with whom he will share the result of bitter recriminations. It was then the secretary of the Duke of Epernon to Metz. After spending two years in Rome from 1621 to 1623 as an agent of Cardinal de La Valette , he went to Paris where he was known for his letters, addressed to his knowledge and important personages of the court, gave him a great reputation. Richelieu noticed him and gave him the function of the historian and the patent of King's Council in its advice on a pension of 2000 pounds. Released in 1624 , the first volume of his letters he received from the outset the highest praise. Nicknamed "the great letter writer, he became the oracle of the Hotel de Rambouillet , alongside inter alia, Chaplain , Malherbe or Boisrobert. Yet pride, seen as a sign of debauchery that characterizes his letters, will soon be attacked by the Jesuit Franois Garasse . The following year, accused of having looted the ancient and modern authors, he was attacked by Jean Goulu , superior of the order Feuillants , in his pamphlet Letters to Phyllarque Aristes of 1627. Natural sound conceited accommodating evil as the constant attacks against his controversial works as the Parisian literary life, he retired to his land of Balzac that he could satisfy his dark mood by engaging in almost entirely to religious exercises which the had appointed the "hermit of the Charente. This does not prevent him from continuing to actively correspond with his Parisian friends and remain the arbiter of good taste in style. He always responded with jeers to the demands of Chaplain and Boisrobert he seems to have been automatically registered to the French Academy in March 1634 , which was an original member although there is probably never served. Retire at Angouleme had him waive the residence. He founded the first prize yet of eloquence with a bequest of 2000 pounds. The hypochondriac in appetite distributed at the end of his life all his assets to charity before retiring to the convent of Capuchin Angouleme where he died in the odor of sanctity, leaving 12,000 pounds to the Hospice of Angouleme. The works of Guez de Balzac consist of letters, addressed to Conrart , Chaplain and others; Speech, interviews, essays, literary, short treatises, the main ones Aristippus or the Court, reflecting on the Machiavellianism and the Prince, an apology of Louis XIII and Richelieu , the Socrates Christian doctrine test and moral religious poems of some French and Latin verse. Balzac's current reputation is based primarily on his letters whose first collection appeared in 1624 and another in 1636 : we found an elegance and harmony never before encountered in any work in prose of the French language. Although the substance is empty and affected , letters of Guez, who also knew Italian and Spanish, demonstrate a true mastery of style by introducing into the prose French clarity and precision that encourage new develop the French language on its own resources in favor of the most idiomatic elements. It can rightly be credited with having done for the prose a reform parallel to that of Malherbe for poetry. Marie-Nicolas Bouillet and Alexis Chassang (ed.), "Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac" in Universal Dictionary of History and Geography, 1878 Websites Notes
References
Works
Preceded by
First member Chair 28 of the French Academy
1634-1654 Followed by
Hardouin de Beaumont Perefixe Source partial
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