Tanneguy Lefebvre
Encyclopedia
Tanneguy Le Fèvre (1615 – 12 September 1672) was a French
classical scholar.
He was born at Caen
. After completing his studies in Paris
, he was appointed by Cardinal Richelieu inspector of the printing-press at the Louvre
. After Richelieu's death he left Paris, joined the Reformed Church
, and in 1651 obtained a professorship at the Academy of Saumur
, which he filled with great success for nearly twenty years. His increasing ill-health and a certain moral laxity (as shown in his judgment on Sappho
) led to a quarrel with the consistory, as a result of which he resigned his professorship. Several universities were eager to obtain his services, and he had accepted a post offered him by the elector palatine at Heidelberg, when he died suddenly. One of his children, Anne, became famous as Madame Dacier
.
Lefebvre was a highly cultivated man and a thorough classical scholar. He brought out editions of various Greek and Latin authors: Longinus
, Anacreon and Sappho
, Virgil
, Horace
, Lucretius
and many others.
His most important original works are: Les Vies des poètes Grecs (1665); Méthode pour commencer les humanités Grecques et latines (2nd ed., 1731), of which several English adaptations have appeared; and Epistolae Criticae (1659).
In addition to the Mémoires pour ... la vie de Tanneguy Lefebvre, by F. Graverol (1686), see the article in the Nouvelle biographie générale, based partly on the manuscript registers of the Saumur Académie.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
classical scholar.
He was born at Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
. After completing his studies in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, he was appointed by Cardinal Richelieu inspector of the printing-press at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
. After Richelieu's death he left Paris, joined the Reformed Church
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
, and in 1651 obtained a professorship at the Academy of Saumur
Academy of Saumur
The Academy of Saumur was a Huguenot university at Saumur in western France. It existed from 1593, when it was founded by Philippe de Mornay, until shortly after 1683, when Louis XIV decided on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, ending the limited toleration of Protestantism in...
, which he filled with great success for nearly twenty years. His increasing ill-health and a certain moral laxity (as shown in his judgment on Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
) led to a quarrel with the consistory, as a result of which he resigned his professorship. Several universities were eager to obtain his services, and he had accepted a post offered him by the elector palatine at Heidelberg, when he died suddenly. One of his children, Anne, became famous as Madame Dacier
Anne Lefèvre
Anne Le Fèvre Dacier , better known during her lifetime as Madame Dacier, was a French scholar and translator of the classics....
.
Lefebvre was a highly cultivated man and a thorough classical scholar. He brought out editions of various Greek and Latin authors: Longinus
Longinus (literature)
Longinus is the conventional name of the author of the treatise, On the Sublime , a work which focuses on the effect of good writing. Longinus, sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Longinus because his real name is unknown, was a Greek teacher of rhetoric or a literary critic who may have lived in the...
, Anacreon and Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
, Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, Lucretius
Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is an epic philosophical poem laying out the beliefs of Epicureanism, De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe".Virtually no details have come down concerning...
and many others.
His most important original works are: Les Vies des poètes Grecs (1665); Méthode pour commencer les humanités Grecques et latines (2nd ed., 1731), of which several English adaptations have appeared; and Epistolae Criticae (1659).
In addition to the Mémoires pour ... la vie de Tanneguy Lefebvre, by F. Graverol (1686), see the article in the Nouvelle biographie générale, based partly on the manuscript registers of the Saumur Académie.