PASSERAT, JEAN

born Oct. 18, 1534, Troyes, Fr. died Sept. 14, 1602, Paris French poet, author of some elegant and tender verse, and one of the contributors to the Satire Mnippe, the manifesto of the moderate Royalist party in support of Henry of Navarre's claim to the throne. Passerat studied at the University of Paris, became a teacher at the Collge de Plessis, and in 1572 was made professor of Latin at the Collge de France, where he wrote scholarly Latin works and commentaries on Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius. He also composed poetry, his best pieces being his short ode Du premier jour de mai (On the First Day of May) and a charming villanelle J 'ai perdu ma tourterelle (I Have Lost My Turtle Dove). His exact share in the Satire Mnippe (1594) is variously stated, but it is generally agreed that he wrote much of the verse. His lines Sur la journe de Senlis (On the Journey From Senlis), in which he commends the Duke d'Aumale's ability in running away, became a celebrated political song.