La Fontaine, Jean de

WRITER (FRANCE)
BORN 8 Jul 1621, Château-Thierry, Champagne - DIED 14 Apr 1695, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 25, ligne 01, P, 24 (cenotaph))

Jean de la Fontaine is famous for his fables. In 1647 he married the fourteen year old Marie Héricart and this marriage brought him 20,000 livres. He was mostly away from home, but in 1653 they had a son.

He studied law and practised as a lawyer for a while. Helped by protectors, he was enable to spend all his time on literature. His fables were published in three volumes, in 1668, 1678 and 1694.

After a long time of being under suspicion and hesitation from the King, he was welcomed to the French Academy during the 1680s. since then his fame never disappeared. He died in 1695 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. To promote the relatively new Père Lachaise cemetery his presumed remains were transferred to that cemetery.

Related persons
• had work illustrated by Mercuri, Paolo

Images

The grave of Jean de la Fontaine at Père Lachaise, Paris.
Picture by Androom (24 Oct 2014)

 

Sources
Jean de La Fontaine - Wikipedia


La Lyre, Adolphe

Published: 18 Dec 2016
Last update: 30 Jul 2023