MARMONTEL, JEAN-FRANOIS

born July 11, 1723, Bort-les-Orgues, Fr. died Dec. 31, 1799, Normandy French poet, dramatist, novelist, and critic who is remembered for his autobiographical work, Mmoires d'un pre (1804, Memoirs of a Father). In 1745, encouraged by Voltaire, Marmontel settled in Paris, where good management made his career more brilliant than his talent warranted. He was a mediocre dramatist, composing short-lived tragedies in the manner of Voltaire, and libretti of operas for composers Jean-Philippe Rameau, Andr-Ernest-Modeste Grtry, Niccol Piccinni, and Luigi Cherubini. His Contes moraux (1761; Moral Stories) are more original. He first published them separately in the Mercure de France, which he edited between 1758 and 1760. Sentimental and edifying, insipidly elegant in content and style, these tales were widely appreciated and imitated. The publication of two philosophical romances, Blisaire (1767) and Les Incas (1777), considerably enhanced his reputation. The first was condemned by the Sorbonne because of its plea for religious toleration; the second denounced the evils of fanaticism. Marmontel derived from Voltaire the brand of liberal Classicism he expounded in his lments de littrature (1787; Elements of Literature) and in articles for the Encyclopdie. He was elected to the Acadmie Franaise in 1763 and became its permanent secretary in 1783. He was appointed royal historiographer in 1771. During the Revolution he retired to the country, where he wrote his only really lasting work, Mmoires d'un pre.