biography
| name: |
Montaigne, Michel (Eyquem) de
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pronunciation:
[mõten]
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1533–92)
|
| biography:
| Essayist and courtier, born at Château de Montaigne, Périgord, SW France. He spoke no language but Latin until he was six, received his early education at Bordeaux, then studied law. He obtained a post in connection with the Parlement of Bordeaux, and for 13 years was a city counsellor, later becoming mayor. A translation (1569) of the Natural History of a 15th-c professor at Toulouse was his first attempt at literature, and supplied the text for his Apologie de Raymon Sebond. In 1571 he succeeded to the family estate at Montaigne, and lived the life of a country gentleman, varied by visits to Paris and a tour in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. He is remembered for his Essais (1572–80, 1588) on the new ideas and personalities of the time, which introduced a new literary genre to accommodate what Matthew Arnold was later to call ‘the dialogue of the mind with itself’. Quoted by Shakespeare, imitated by Bacon, and incorporated into the discourse of the novel, Montaigne's essays have provided a major contribution to literary history. |
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