André Grellet-Dumazeau

Born in 1842 and deceased in 1909, André Grellet-Dumazeau was a French magistrate as well as a writer of history. Records from the Bibliothèque nationale de France confirm his dates, and Wikimedia Commons identifies him more specifically as Jean Baptiste Apollinaire André Grellet-Dumazeau, born in Montaigu-le-Blin and dying at Lamalou-les-Bains.

A notice attached to a later edition of L'affaire du bonnet et les Mémoires de Saint-Simon says he inherited a taste for historical study from his grandfather and began publishing research while still a young magistrate. That same source describes him as especially drawn to local and regional history, while other catalog records link him to the Bordeaux court and show that he later held an honorary senior judicial title after retiring.

Today he is best remembered for works such as La société bordelaise sous Louis XV et le salon de Mme Duplessy and L'affaire du bonnet et les Mémoires de Saint-Simon. These books reflect the qualities that make him appealing to modern listeners and readers: patient research, a strong feel for place, and a clear fascination with the people, institutions, and social worlds of old France.