Jacques Esprit (22 October 1611, in

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attra ...

– 11 June 1677), sometimes called abbé Esprit despite never having been ordained a priest, was a

French moralist In French literature, the moralists (french: moralistes) were a tradition of secular writers who described "personal, social and political conduct", typically through maxims. The tradition is associated with the salons of the ''Ancien Régime'' f ...

and writer.

Biography

Born at

, the son of a doctor from

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

, he joined his brother (an

Oratorian An Oratorian is a member of one of the following religious orders: * Oratory of Saint Philip Neri (Roman Catholic), who use the postnominal letters C.O. * Oratory of Jesus (Roman Catholic) * Oratory of the Good Shepherd (Anglican) * Teologisk Orator ...

priest) in Paris, where Jacques studied theology and letters from 1628 to 1634. He attended the

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ...

of the marquise de Sablé and entered the service of the

duchesse de Longueville Duchesse (Duchesse satin) was a soft, heavy, and glossy satin cloth made in France. Weave Duchesse was produced with a satin weave with fine silk threads using a higher number of threads per square inch in the warp with at least seven floati ...

then of the

duc de La Rochefoucauld The title of Duke de La Rochefoucauld is a French peerage belonging to one of the most famous families of the French nobility, whose origins go back to lord Rochefoucauld in Charente in the 10th and 11th centuries (with official evidence of nobi ...

. Paul Pellisson wrote: "He had a happy appearance, a delicacy of spirit, an amiable disposition, playful, and with much facility in speaking well and writing well". His talents were noticed by

Pierre Séguier Pierre Séguier (; 28 May 1588 – 28 January 1672) was a French statesman, chancellor of France from 1635. Biography Early years Séguier was born in Paris to a prominent legal family originating in Quercy. His grandfather, Pierre Séguier (15 ...

, who rewarded him with a pension and made him a conseiller d'État in 1636. He was elected a member 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 ...

in 1639. Falling into disgrace with Séguier in 1644, he took refuge in the Oratorian seminary. The prince de Conti visited and befriended him, lodging him in his hôtel and giving him 15,000 livres with which to get married. When the prince was made governor of the

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximatel ...

in 1660, Jacques Esprit accompanied him and served him as intendant. On his benefactor's death in 1666, he returned to live in his birthplace of Béziers, where he educated his three daughters and edited a single work, ''La Fausseté des vertus humaines'', and it was there that he died.

''La Fausseté des vertus humaines''

''La Fausseté des vertus humaines'' went through many editions and was translated into English in London in 1706 as ''Discourses on the Deceitfulness of Humane Virtues''.

List of works

*''La Fausseté des vertus humaines'' (2 volumes, 1678 ; 1693 ; 1709)
Online text
Reissue:

Pascal Quignard Pascal Quignard (; born 23 April 1948) is a French writer born in Verneuil-sur-Avre, Eure. In 2002 his novel ''Les Ombres errantes'' won the Prix Goncourt, France's top literary prize. ''Terrasse à Rome'' (Terrasse in Rome), received the Fren ...

, ''La Fausseté des vertus humaines, précédée de Traité sur Esprit'', Aubier, Paris, 1996. *''L'Art de connoistre les hommes'' (1702). Édition abrégée de ''La Fausseté des vertus humaines''.

References

Bibliography

*Henri Berna, ''Pensées, maximes et sentences de Jacques Esprit : Considérations sur les vertus ordinaires'', Ellipse, Genève, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Esprit, Jacques 1611 births 1677 deaths People from Béziers Members of the Académie Française 17th-century French writers 17th-century French male writers