Abbé Aubert

Template:Infobox person/Wikidata Jean-Louis Aubert (15 February 1731 in Paris – 10 November 1814 in Paris), called the Abbé Aubert, was a French dramatist, poet and journalist, son of the violinist and composer Jacques Aubert (1686-1753) and brother of Louis Aubert (painter). Aubert was educated at the Collège de Navarre and entered the order. In 1741, Aubert entered the editorial staff of the , where he was literary critic. In 1752, he created the . He opposed the encyclopedists.

Aubert published in the Mercure de France and in 1756 . Grimm found his fables "just good for children, not being allowed to be too difficult"; Voltaire on the contrary recommended them. 1761-1763 appeared the , 1765 and . A protégé of Vergennes, Aubert joined the Journal de Trévoux, replacing the abbé Mercier, which he renamed the . In 1773, he was made chair of literature at the Collège Royal and replaced Marin as director of the Gazette de France in 1774.

Aubert wrote essays of the Critiques of Voltaire and published the (Paris, 1774), (Paris, 1788), (poems, Paris year VIII) and (Amsterdam, 1760-1762)

Biography

He was the son of violinist and composer Jacques Aubert (1686-1753), who was a member of the Paris Opera in 1721, and attached to Mme de Prie and the Duc de Bourbon-Condé.

A student at the College of Navarre, Aubert later entered the priesthood. In 1751, he joined the editorial team of Affiches annonces et avis divers; in 1752, he initiated its development into Affiches et Annonces de Province. From 1752 to 1772, he wrote the critical and literary section, and for a long time made the journal's fortune. He then worked on the Journal des Beaux-Arts.

He writes against Jean-Jacques Rousseau musical principles.

Aubert published a collection of Fables in the Mercure de France, and in 1756 new Fables, which met with great success. Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm asserted that these fables “are just for children, and do not allow themselves to be too difficult”; Voltaire, on the contrary, recommended them. In 1761-1763, he wrote Contes moraux on the paintings of Greuze, and in 1765, La Mort d'Abel et le Vœu de Jephté.

From July 1766 to December 1767, he replaced Barthélemy Mercier de Saint-Léger at the Journal de Trévoux.

In 1773, he was given a chair in French literature at the Collège de France, which he held until 1784.

In November of the same year, he was appointed Censorship in the Ancien Régime. His aim was to combat “the abuse of the philosophical spirit”, and he won the confidence of the Comte de Vergennes. In direct contact with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he was responsible for policing foreign newspapers. In September 1774, he was appointed director of the La Gazette (France), replacing Marin. He was loathed by many of the leading writers and journalists of his time, such as Brissot, who referred to him as a straw man or valet to Vergennes, the “flat servant of the French government”.

External links

• Notice on abbé Aubert on Gallica

Template:France-poet-stub Template:France-nonfiction-writer-stub Template:France-playwright-stub