Claude Favre de Vaugelas (6 January 1585 – 26 February 1650) was a Savoyard

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

ian and man of letters. Although a lifelong courtier, Claude Favre was widely known by the name of one of the landed estates he owned as ''

seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

'' of Vaugelas and

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

of Peroges. Born at

Meximieux Meximieux () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Geography Located 35 km north east of Lyon and 10 km from Ambérieu-en-Bugey, the town is where the Dombes plateau meets the plain of the river Ain. Historically, Me ...

, in the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...

, he became gentleman-in-waiting to

Gaston, Duke of Orléans '' Monsieur'' Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston Jean Baptiste; 24 April 1608 – 2 February 1660), was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a '' Fils de France''. He lat ...

, and continued faithful to this prince in his disgrace, although his fidelity cost him a pension from the crown on which he was largely dependent. His father was the distinguished president Favre and his mother bore the same name as her husband (Favre). She got the Vaugelas's estate, by birth. His thorough knowledge of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

and the correctness of his speech won him a place among the original members of 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 1634. On the representation of his colleagues his pension was restored so that he might have leisure to pursue his ''Remarques sur la langue française'' (1647). In this work he maintained that words and expressions were to be judged by the current usage of the best society, of which, as a regular of the

Hôtel de Rambouillet The Hôtel de Rambouillet, formerly the Hôtel de Pisani, was the Paris residence of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, who ran a renowned literary salon there from 1620 until 1648. It was situated on the west side of the rue Saint-Th ...

, Vaugelas was a competent judge. He shares with

François de Malherbe François de Malherbe (, 1555 – 16 October 1628) was a French poet, critic, and translator. Life He was born in Le Locheur (near Caen, Normandie), to a family of standing, although the family's pedigree did not satisfy the heralds in terms of ...

the credit of having purified French diction. His book fixed the current usage, and the classical writers of the 17th century regulated their practice by it. Protests against the academical doctrine were not lacking.

Scipion Dupleix Scipion Dupleix, lord of Clarens ( Condom, 1569 – Condom, 1661), was a French historian. Dupleix came to Paris in 1605, in Queen Margaret of Valois' retinue, who appointed him as her hotel's ''maitre de requêtes''. In his position as tutor of ...

in his ''Liberté de la langue française dans sa pureté'' (1651) pleaded for the richer and freer language of the 16th century, and François de La Mothe-Le-Vayer took a similar standpoint in his ''Lettres à Gabriel Naudé tombant les Remarques sur la langue française''. Towards the end of his life Vaugelas became tutor to the sons of Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince of

Carignano Carignano may refer to: Places * Carignano, Piedmont, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy * Palazzo Carignano, a historical building in the centre of Turin, Italy * Teatro Carignano, a theatre in Turin, Italy People * Hou ...

. He died in Paris in February 1650. His translation from

Quintus Curtius Quintus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman historian, probably of the 1st century, author of his only known and only surviving work, ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'', "Histories of Alexander the Great", or more fully ''Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedon ...

, ''La Vie d'Alexandre'' (posthumously published in 1653), deserves notice as an application of the author's own rules.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaugelas, Claude Favre de 1585 births 1650 deaths People from Ain Members of the Académie Française 17th-century French writers 17th-century French male writers Writers from the Duchy of Savoy