Nicolas Faret

Nicolas Faret (* around 1596 in Bourg-en-Bresse , † September 8, 1646 in Paris ) was a French politician and author.

Life

Nicolas Faret was the son of a simple shoemaker. Thanks to the support of a wealthy godfather, he was able to study at a Jesuit college in Paris and then returned to Bourg, where he worked as a lawyer. He went to Paris again to devote himself to both his professional advancement and writing.

His political career brought Faret to the posts of secretary to Henri de Lorraine, comte d'Harcourt , naval secretary, secretary of the Italian army, and royal council and secretary.

Faret made contact with Claude Favre de Vaugelas and Marc-Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant and also visited Valentin Conrart's group of writers . Through this connection he helped shape the beginnings of the Académie française founded in 1634 , whose seat N ° 9 he was the first to occupy. He wrote both poetry and prose (including some historical works such as the translation of the Breviarium ab urbe condita by Eutropius , 1621). His socio-pedagogical treatise l'Honnête homme ou l'Art de plaire à la cour (1630), one of the numerous savoir-vivre works of the 17th century, which were intended to teach the fine handling of the noble courts, had some effect .

Paul Pellisson judged Faret: “  Il avait l'esprit bien fait, beaucoup de génie pour la langue et pour l'éloquence.  »(German:“ He had a well-trained mind, understood a great deal of language and eloquence. ”) Nicolas Boileau wrote the following lines about Faret, who liked to visit drinking rooms with his friends:«  … on vit, avec Faret, Charbonner de ses vers des murs d'un cabaret.  »(" ... together with Faret one saw that the walls of a cabaret turned black from his verses [that is, they were written over and over with a charcoal pencil]. ")

Web links

• Literature by and about Nicolas Faret in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short biography and list of works of the Académie française (French)
• Biography with contemporary texts by and about Faret