François le Métel de Boisrobert (1 August 1592 – 30 March 1662) was a French

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, playwright, and courtier.

Life

He was born in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. He trained as a lawyer, later practising for a time in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. He traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1622 and established employment at court, for he had a share in the

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

of the ''Bacchanales'' performed at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in February. In 1630 visited Rome, where he won the favour of

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

and was made a canon of Rouen. He was introduced to

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

in 1623, and became one of five poets to inspire Richelieu's works. It was Boisrobert who suggested to Richelieu the plan of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and he was one of its earliest and most active members. These efforts resulted in him becoming quite wealthy. After the death of Richelieu, he became affiliated with Mazarin, whom he served faithfully throughout the Fronde. In his later years, he dedicated much of his time to his duties as a priest. He wrote a number of comedies and contributed to numerous others, including ''La Belle Plaideuse'' and

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

's ''L'Avare''. ''Contes'', published under the name of his brother D'Ouville, is also often largely attributed to him.

Works

* ''Pyrandre et Lisimène ou l'Heureuse tromperie'' (1633) * ''Les Rivaux amis'' (1639)
''Les Deux Alcandres''
(1640) * ''La Belle Palène'' (1642) * ''Le Couronnement de Darie'' (1642) * ''La Vraie Didon ou Didon la chaste'' (1643) * ''La Jalouse d'elle-même'' (1650) * ''Les Trois Orontes'' (1652) * ''L'hiver de Paris'' * ''La Folle gageure ou les divertissements de la comtesse de Pembroc'' (1653) (from

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

* ''Cassandre, comtesse de Barcelone'' (performed for the first time at the Hôtel de Bourgogne on 31 October 1653) * ''L'Inconnue'' (1655) * ''L'Amant ridicule'' (1655) * ''Les Généreux ennemis'' (1655)
''La Belle plaideuse''
(1655) * ''La Belle invisible ou les Constances éprouvées'' (1656) * ''Les Apparences trompeuses'' (1656) * ''Les Coups d'Amour et de Fortune'' (1656) * ''Théodore, reine de Hongrie'' (1658)

References

Attribution: *

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boisrobert, Francois Le Metel De 1592 births 1662 deaths People from the Province of Normandy French gay writers Members of the Académie Française Writers from Caen 17th-century French poets 17th-century French male writers 17th-century French dramatists and playwrights French LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights French LGBTQ poets