Jean-François Du Resnel du Bellay

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Jean-François Du Resnel du Bellay (also: Du Bellay du Resnel ; born June 29, 1692 in Rouen ; † February 25, 1761 in Paris ) was a French oratorio , abbot , journalist , translator and member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles- Lettres and the Académie française .

life and work

Jean-François Du Resnel Du Bellay came from a Norman noble family. His father was an officer. After attending the Jesuit College, he joined the Oratorians in 1711 and was sent to Saumur to teach . His uncle, Bishop Pierre de Langle of Boulogne , brought him to Boulogne-sur-Mer , where he received his doctorate in law, and made him canon in 1720 . After the bishop's death, he went to Paris in 1724 and became a canon of Saint-Jacques de l'Hôpital. The Duke of Orléans , who held him in high esteem, got him in 1733 the post of Commendatar Abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Nicolas of Septfontaines in Andelot-Blancheville .

Du Resnel, Voltaire's friend , who had learned Italian, Spanish and especially English in Boulogne, translated Alexander Pope 's philosophical poems An Essay on Criticism (Les principes du goût ou Essai sur la critique, 1730, 770 verses ) and An Essay on Man (Les principes de la morale ou Essai sur l'homme, 1736, 2000 verses). Pope complained that Du Resnel had toned down or left out some statements. But criticism also came from the ecclesiastical opposite side because the text was still perceived as too daring in France. Du Resnel responded in 1737 in a 60-page preface to the new edition.

From 1731 to 1736 Du Resnel worked for the Journal des Savants . In 1733 he was accepted into the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (as Associé , 1756 as Pensionnaire ) and published several works there. From 1742 he was a member of the Académie française (seat no. 39), after he had already performed a Panégyrique de Saint Louis (Panegyric poem on Louis the saint) there in 1732 . He died in 1761 at the age of 68.

Works (selection)

  • (Translator) Essai sur la critique , poème traduit de l'anglois de Mr Pope, avec un discours et des remarques. T. Le Gras, Paris 1730.
  • (Translator) Principes de la morale et du gût en deux poèmes traduits de l'anglais. Briasson, Paris 1737. 3rd edition 1738. (New edition of the Essai sur la critique , expanded to include the Essai sur l'homme , with a long foreword)

literature

  • Histoire de l'Académie royale des inscriptions et belles lettres . Vol. 15. C. Panckoucke, Paris 1773, pp. 429-436.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Du Resnel du Bellay, Jean-François
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Du Resnel, Abbé; Du Bellay Du Resnel, Jean-François
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French oratorian, abbot, journalist, translator and member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and the Académie française
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1692
PLACE OF BIRTH Rouen
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1761
Place of death Paris