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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, playwright, and courtier.

Life

He was born in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. He traveled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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 the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

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

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano 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 po ...

and was made a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of Rouen. He was introduced to

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

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 secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, 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 The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

. 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 greatest writers in the French language and world ...

'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. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...

* ''Cassandre, comtesse de Barcelone'' (performed for the first time at the Hôtel de Bourgogne on October 31, 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

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boisrobert, Francois Le Metel De 1592 births 1662 deaths 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 LGBT dramatists and playwrights French LGBT poets