Pellisson, Paul (Paul Pellisson-Fontanier) (1624-93). French poet and man of letters. Brought up a Protestant, he was a lawyer in Castres, but then, disfigured by smallpox, came to Paris and devoted himself to literature. His most famous work is the Histoire de l'Académie Française (1653), an elegant piece of writing, later completed up to 1700 by abbé d'Olivet. He also wrote both religious and amorous verse (the latter frequently republished in a Recueil de piéces galantes with the poems of the comtesse de La Suze). But his main role was that of literary linkman; possessing considerable charm and a catholic taste, he defended writing that was graceful, natural, and entertaining. He was a close friend of many writers, notably Madeleine de Scudéry and Sarasin (for whose works he wrote an important preface), and as a literary expert became Fouquet's homme de confiance. On his master's downfall he remained courageously loyal, and was imprisoned in the Bastille for several years, amusing himself by taming a spider. In 1670 he converted to Catholicism, won the king's favour, and was appointed official historian.
[Peter France]
