François de La Rochefoucauld (writer)
French author of maxims and memoirs (1613–1680) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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François de La Rochefoucauld, 2nd Duke of La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac (French: [fʁɑ̃swa d(ə) la ʁɔʃfuko]; 15 September 1613 – 17 March 1680) was an accomplished French moralist of the era of French Classical literature and author of Maximes and Memoirs, the only two works of his dense literary œuvre published. His Maximes portrays the callous nature of human conduct, with a cynical attitude towards putative virtue and avowals of affection, friendship, love, and loyalty. Leonard Tancock regards Maximes as "one of the most deeply felt, most intensely lived texts in French literature", with his "experience, his likes and dislikes, sufferings and petty spites ... crystallized into absolute truths."[1]
This article possibly contains original research. Several paragraphs are unsourced and state numerous subjective claims as facts, mostly praising the subject and proclaiming his literary influence and relevance without a source. (February 2024) |
François de La Rochefoucauld | |
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Born | (1613-09-15)15 September 1613 Paris, Kingdom of France |
Died | 17 March 1680(1680-03-17) (aged 66) Paris, Kingdom of France |
Genre | Essayist |
Notable works | Memoirs Maximes |
Spouse | Andrée de Vivonne |
Children | François VII de La Rochefoucauld |
Born in Paris in 1613, at a time when the royal court was vacillating between aiding the nobility and threatening it, he was considered an exemplar of the accomplished seventeenth-century nobleman. Until 1650, he bore the title of Prince de Marcillac. His great-grandfather François III, count de La Rochefoucauld, was killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, being a Huguenot.