Nicolas Chamfort

Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, also known as Chamfort (French: [ʃɑ̃fɔʁ]; 6 April 1741 – 13 April 1794), was a French writer, best known for his witty epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary to Louis XVI's sister, and of the Jacobin club.

Biography

Chamfort was born Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme on 6 April 1741, according to a baptismal certificate from Saint-Genès parish in Clermont-Ferrand, to a grocer named Nicolas. On 22 June, a second birth certificate gives him the name « Sébastien Roch » from «unknown parents ». A journey to Paris resulted in the boy obtaining a bursary at the Collège des Grassins. He worked hard, although one of his most contemptuous epigrams reads: Ce que j'ai appris je ne le sais plus; le peu que je sais encore, je l'ai deviné ("What I learned I no longer know; the little I still know, I guessed"). When the principal of the College promised Chamfort a benefice, he replied that he could not accept because he preferred honour to honours, j'aime l'honneur et non les honneurs. About this time he assumed the name of Chamfort.