biography
| name: |
La Fontaine, Jean de
|
pronunciation:
[fonten]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1621–95)
|
| biography:
| Poet, born in Château-Thierry, NE France. He assisted his father, a superintendent of forests, then moved to Paris, and devoted himself to writing. His major works of verse include Contes et nouvelles en vers (1664, Tales and Novels in Verse) and Les Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon (1669, The Loves of Cupid and Psyche). He is best known for the Fables choisies mises en vers (12 vols, 1668–94), in translation usually called ‘La Fontaine's Fables’, which he uses as a starting point for his observations of human nature. In 1684 he presented a Discours en vers on his reception by the Academy. |
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