Paul Pellisson

Paul Pellisson (30 October 1624 – 7 February 1693) was a French author, associated with the Baroque Précieuses movement.

Pellisson was born in

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

and obtained rich ecclesiastical preferment.

He was very intimate with

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

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pellisson, Paul". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 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

• Works by or about Paul Pellisson at Internet Archive