Claude Favre de Vaugelas
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Claude Favre de Vaugelas(6 January 1585 – 26 February 1650) was a Savoyardgrammarianand man of letters.[1]Although a lifelongcourtier,Claude Favre was widely known by the name of one of thelanded estateshe owned asseigneurof Vaugelas andbaronof Peroges.[1]
Born atMeximieux,in theDuchy of Savoy,he becamegentleman-in-waitingtoGaston, Duke of Orléans,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.[1]His father was the distinguished presidentAntoine Favreand his mother bore the same name as her husband (Favre). She got the Vaugelas's estate, by birth.
His thorough knowledge of theFrench languageand the correctness of his speech won him a place among the original members of theAcadémie françaisein 1634. On the representation of his colleagues his pension was restored so that he might have leisure to pursue hisRemarques sur la langue française[2](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 theHôtel de Rambouillet,Vaugelas was a competent judge. He shares withFrançois de Malherbethe 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.[1]
Protests against the academical doctrine were not lacking.Scipion Dupleixin hisLiberté de la langue française dans sa pureté[3](1651) pleaded for the richer and freer language of the 16th century, andFrançois de La Mothe-Le-Vayertook a similar standpoint in hisLettres àGabriel Naudétombant les Remarques sur la langue française.[1]
Towards the end of his life Vaugelas became tutor to the sons ofThomas Francis of Savoy,Prince ofCarignano.He died in Paris in February 1650.[1]
His translation fromQuintus Curtius,La Vie d'Alexandre(posthumously published in 1653), deserves notice as an application of the author's own rules.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcdefgOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Vaugelas, Claude Favre, Seigneur de".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 954–955.
- ^Vaugelas, Claude Favre de (1585-1650) Auteur du texte (1647).Remarques sur la langue françoise: utiles à ceux qui veulent bien parler et bien escrire ([Reprod.]) / [C. F. de Vaugelas].
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^Dupleix, Scipion (1569-1661) Auteur du texte (1651).Liberté de la langue françoise dans sa pureté ([Reprod.]) / par messire Scipion Dupleix,...
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
