Gédéon Tallemant Des Réaux (7 November, 1619 – 6 November, 1692) was a French writer who is known for the short biographies her wrote titled Historiettes.
Books by Gédéon Tallemant Des Réaux*
1. Gédéon Tallemant, Sieur des Réaux was born at La Rochelle, on the west coast of France. His family was upper-middle class. When he was around 30 years old he bought a small property called des Réaux, hence his name.
2. He was sent to Italy together with his brother François when he was 18. When he got back to Paris, he graduated with degrees in Canon law (religious laws and legal principals of the Catholic Church), and civil law.
3. He started working in a job his father got him supporting parliamentarians in performing their duties (conseiller au parlement), but he didn’t care for the profession. To make a living, Gédéon Tallemant married his cousin Elisabeth de Rambouillet.
4. Elisabeth’s mother, Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet lived in Hôtel Pisani, (later renamed Hôtel de Rambouillet) and arranged it in a way that she could host guests, but with small rooms for privacy. The hotel was an important literary salon of the era until her death. She did, however, told her son-in-law many stories which to this day are considered of great historical value.
5. Hôtel Pisani’s society was known for its observations about many known French men and women. While the observations were poignant, they were not always complimentary.
6. This is where Gédéon Tallemant wrote his short biographical and historical accounts, including scandals of the era.
7. Gédéon Tallemant’s Historiettes is an invaluable account of literary history and independent sources have verified the accounts he wrote.
8. Mr. Talleman also wrote poetry but it’s Historiettes that he is remembered for. Historiettes was published posthumously, after being edited.
9. Even though Gédéon Tallemant was a Huguenot and rich he was never fussy and fit well in society.
10. His last few years were sad and lonely. His wife renounced her faith, and his daughter, while religiously loyal, was banished from France as a consequence. He converted to Catholicism a few years before he died.
Zohar – Man of la Book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
Sources:
Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux | Wikipedia
Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux (1619-1692) | Musée protestant
Biographie de GÉDÉON TALLEMANT DES RÉAUX (1619-1692) | Universalis
