Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1 November 1636 – 13 March 1711) was a French poet and critic.
Boileau was born in the rue de Jérusalem, in Paris, France. He was brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière. He is the author of Satires and Epistles, L'Art poétique and Le Lutrin, in which he attacked and employed his wit against what he perceived to be the bad taste of his time.
Boileau did mu...
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Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1 November 1636 – 13 March 1711) was a French poet and critic.
Boileau was born in the rue de Jérusalem, in Paris, France. He was brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière. He is the author of Satires and Epistles, L'Art poétique and Le Lutrin, in which he attacked and employed his wit against what he perceived to be the bad taste of his time.
Boileau did much to reform the prevailing form of French poetry, as Blaise Pascal did to reform the prose, and was for long the law-giver of Parnassus. He was greatly influenced by Horace.
The surname "Despréaux" was derived from a small property at Crosne near Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. He was the fifteenth child of Gilles Boileau, a clerk in the parlement. Two of his brothers attained some distinction: Gilles Boileau, the author of a translation of Epictetus; and Jacques Boileau, who became a canon of the Sainte-Chapelle, and made valuable contributions to...
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