author
de (Vinchelés Payen-Payne) V. Payen-Payne
1866–1945
Best known for practical French-language reference books, this early 20th-century writer and teacher helped English-speaking students get closer to everyday French. His work mixes scholarship with a clear sense of what learners actually need.
1 Audiobook
French Idioms and Proverbs A Companion to Deshumbert's "Dictionary of Difficulties"
by de (Vinchelés Payen-Payne) V. Payen-Payne
About the author
Born in 1866, de V. Payen-Payne — also identified in library and archival records as Vinchelés or James Bertrand de Vinchelés Payen-Payne — built a career around teaching and explaining French. McGill's archival description notes that he served as an assistant-examiner in French at the University of London and was principal of Kensington Coaching College.
He is especially associated with French Idioms and Proverbs, a long-running reference work designed as a companion for students, as well as French-English dictionaries prepared with other scholars including J. L. de Lolme and James Boielle. The books linked to his name suggest a writer focused less on literary fame than on helping readers, translators, and learners handle real language with confidence.
A surviving 1926 portrait by Philip de László also hints at the regard he enjoyed in his own time. He died in 1945, leaving behind a body of work that still speaks to anyone interested in the texture of French usage, from formal study to everyday expression.