Name Jean-Paul Bignon | ||
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Died March 14, 1743, Ile Belle, Meulan-en-Yvelines, France Parents Jerome II Bignon, Suzanne Phelypeaux Grandparents Louis Ier Phelypeaux de Pontchartrain, Jerome Bignon Great-grandparents Paul Phelypeaux de Pontchartrain | ||
The Abbe Jean-Paul Bignon, Cong.Orat. (19 September 1662 in Paris – 14 March 1743 in Ile Belle) was a French ecclesiastic, statesman, writer and preacher and librarian to Louis XIV of France. His protege, Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, named the genus Bignonia (Virginia jasmine) after him in 1694.
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Biography
Born in Paris, Bignon was the grandson of the lawyer and statesman, Jerome Bignon, and, though older, the nephew of the Count Jerome Phelypeaux. He did his elementary studies at the school of the famed Abbey of Port Royal in Paris, then studied at the College d'Harcourt, following which he entered the Oratory of Paris, and did theological studies at the Seminary of Saint Magloire attached to it. In 1691 he completed his studies and was ordained to the priesthood. In 1693 he was made commendatory abbot of Saint-Quentin-en-l'Isle and preacher to King Louis; he was also appointed to succeed to Seat 20 in the French Academy. He was charged by the minister Colbert to head the Bignon Commission, which investigated the feasibility and then began the compilation of a guide to French artistic and industrial processes, published in the following century as the Descriptions of the Arts and Trades.
Bignon worked with his uncle to prepare a new set of rules for the Academy, allowing for honorary membership, which were signed by the king in January 1699. The new rules, however, were rejected by its members. The rejection shocked him to such a degree that he refused to attend its meetings thereafter.
His fame as a preacher is exemplified by two completely different panegyrics he gave on the same day, for the feast day of St. Louis IX.
Publications
Bignon also contributed to the Medailles du regne de Louis le Grand, Sacre de Louis XV. From 1706 to 1714, he presided over the committee of men of letters who edited the Journal des scavans, which position he took again in 1724, with the Abbe Pierre Desfontaines.