Jean de La Chapelle (24 October 1651 – 29 May 1723) was a French writer and dramatist. He was born at

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

, France, was elected to the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

in 1688, and died in Paris.

Biography

Born into minor nobility, nephew of

Nicolas Boileau Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

, his literary talents attracted the attention of Louis Armand, prince of Bourbon-Conti, whose assistant he became in 1678.

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

gave him a number of diplomatic missions to Switzerland to negotiate agreements with the government at Neufchâtel. Benefiting from a sizeable personal fortune, La Chapelle wrote and staged tragedies inspired by classical antiquity at the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

: ''Zaïde'', ''Téléphonte'', ''Cléopâtre'', ''Ajax''. His connections and the skill of the actor Michel Baron brought them success in the theatre, but none survived to join the standard repertoire. A small prose comedy, ''Les Carrosses d'Orléans'' (1680), was on the other hand a genuine success and was frequently staged. It was later adapted into a popular English hit '' The Stage Coach'' by

George Farquhar George Farquhar (1677The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux’ Stratagem by George Farquhar' (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes ...

and

Peter Motteux Peter Anthony Motteux (born Pierre Antoine Motteux ; 25 February 1663 – 18 February 1718) was a French-born English author, playwright, and translator. Motteux was a significant figure in the evolution of English journalism in his era, as the ...

. La Chapelle published two novels, ''Les Amours de Catulle'' (1680) and ''Les Amours de Tibulle'' (1700), both dry collections of translations from the Latin poets

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

and

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a fe ...

respectively. In 1688, La Chapelle was elected chairman of the

, succeeding

Antoine Furetière Antoine Furetière (28 December 161914 May 1688) was a French scholar, writer, and lexicographer, known best for his satirical novel ''Scarron's City Romance''. He was expelled from the Académie Française for seeking to publish his own French ...

. In 1695 he purchased the Château of Sainte-Assise; he sold it in 1700 to Jean Glucq.

Works

;Tragedies * ''Cléopâtre'' (1681) * ''Zaïde'' (1681) * ''Téléphonte'' (1682) * ''Ajax'' (1684) * ''Isaac'' (1717) ;Novels * ''Les Amours de Catulle'' (1680) * ''Marie d'Anjou, reine de Majorque'' (1682) * ''Les Amours de Tibulle'' (1722) ;Other * ''Les Carrosses d'Orléans'' (1680) * ''Lettres d'un Suisse à un Français, où l'on voit les véritables intérêts des princes et des nations de l'Europe'' (1703-1711) * ''Réflexions politiques et historiques sur l'affaire des princes, avec la requête des pairs de France, la requête des princes légitimez et une réponse à cette dernière requête'' (1717)

External links

*
La Chapelle's tragediesAcadémie Française: Biographical note
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapelle, Jean de la 1651 births 1723 deaths Writers from Bourges 17th-century French male writers 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers Members of the Académie Française 17th-century French dramatists and playwrights 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights