Paul Pellisson (30 October 1624 – 7 February 1693) was a French author. Pellisson was born in Béziers, of a distinguished

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

family. He studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, and practised at the bar of

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan) is the sole subprefecture of the Tarn department in the Occitanie region in Southern France. It lies in the former province of Languedoc, although not in the former region of Lan ...

. Going to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

with letters of introduction to Valentin Conrart, a fellow Calvinist, he was introduced to the members of the Académie française. Pellisson undertook to be their historian, and in 1653 published a ''Relation contenant l'histoire de l’Académie française''. He was rewarded with a promise of the next vacant place and permission to be present at their meetings. In 1657 Pellisson became secretary to the minister of finance,

Nicolas Fouquet Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux (27 January 1615 – 23 March 1680) was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormous wealth ...

, but when, in 1661, Fouquet was arrested, his secretary was imprisoned in the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...

. Pellisson had the courage to stand by his fallen patron, in whose defence he issued his celebrated ''Mémoire'' in 1661, with the title ''Discours au roi, par un de ses fidèles sujets sur le procès de M. de Fouquet'', in which the facts in favour of Fouquet are marshalled with great skill. Another pamphlet, ''Seconde défense de M. Fouquet'', followed. Pellisson was released in 1666, and sought the royal favour. He became official

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

to the king, and in that capacity wrote a fragmentary ''Histoire de Louis XIV'', covering the years 1660 to 1670. In 1670 he was converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and obtained rich ecclesiastical preferment. He was very intimate with

Mlle de Scudéry Mademoiselle () is a French courtesy title, abbreviated Mlle, traditionally given to an unmarried woman. The equivalent in English is " Miss". The courtesy title "Madame" is accorded women where their marital status is unknown. From around 1970 ...

, in whose novels he figures as ''Herminius'' and ''Acante''. He had many friends, and

Bussy-Rabutin Roger de Rabutin, comte de Bussy (13 April 1618 – 9 April 1693), commonly known as Bussy-Rabutin, was a French memoirist. He was the cousin and frequent correspondent of Madame de Sévigné. Born at Epiry, near Autun, he represented a famil ...

's described him as "''encore plus honnête homme que bel esprit''."

References

* This work in turn cites: ** Sainte-Beuve, ''Causeries du lundi'', vol. xiv.; ** F. L. Marcon, ''Étude sur la vie et les œuvres de Pellisson'' (1859)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pellisson, Paul 1624 births 1693 deaths People from Béziers University of Toulouse alumni Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism Members of the Académie Française 17th-century French writers 17th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers French historiographers