Biography
Sirmond is known especially for his lifelong feud with Mathieu de Morgues, known as the son of Saint-Germain, who favored Marie de Médicis and was against Cardinal Richelieu. Jean Sirmond answers it with a series of small works which he writes under various pseudonyms, such as Julius Pomponius Dolabella, the faithful French or Sieur of the Mountains.
| “ | He is nephew of P. Sirmond Jésuite, Confessor of King Louis XIII, & one of the wiser men of our century. He came to the Court, & by the favour of the Cardinal of Richelieu, which he estimated one of the best writers then, he was made Historiographer of the King... | ” |
At the time of his stay in Paris, Sirmond collaborated in the drafting of the statutes of the l'Académie française, of which he become one of the first members in 1634. He also authored a Life of the Cardinal of Amboise, published in 1631, and wrote Latin poems, published posthumously in 1653. After the death of the king and the cardinal, he withdrew to his native Auvergne, finding himself without support after having fought so much.
Paul Pellisson paid Sirmond a personal homage, which also constitutes a testimony on the evolution of the French language, which some said was now sufficiently "reasonable" to be worthy to replace Latin and the Greek as the erudite and literary language of the day. Pellison writes:
| “ | J'ajoûterai ici par une espèce de reconnaissance, qu'un de ses ouvrages est une des premières choses, qui m'ont donné goût pour notre Langue. J'étois fraîchement sorti du Collège : on me présentoit je ne sais combien de Romans, & d'autres pièces nouvelles, dont tout jeune, & tout enfant que j'étois, je ne laissois pas de me mocquer, revenant toûjours à mon Cicéron, & à mon Térence, que je trouvois bien plus raisonnables. Enfin, il me tomba presque en même temps quatre livres entre les mains . Dès-lors, je commençai non-seulement à ne plus mépriser la Langue Françoise ; mais encore à l'aimer passionnément, à l'étudier avec quelque soin, & à croire, comme je fais encore aujourd'hui, qu'avec du génie, du temps, & du travail, on pouvoit la rendre capable de toutes choses. | ” |
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