Guillaume Ader

Writing in Occitan from Gascony, Guillaume Ader is generally identified as Guilhèm Adèr, a physician and poet active around the turn of the 17th century. Sources describe him as being born in or near Gimont and educated in Toulouse, where he studied before pursuing medicine.

He is best known for two works: Lo Catonet Gascon, a collection of maxims inspired by Cato, and Lo Gentilòme Gascon, an epic poem celebrating Henry of Navarre, later Henry IV of France. His writing stands out for using the Gascon variety of Occitan in ambitious literary forms, helping preserve and elevate the language in print.

The exact dates attached to Ader vary across catalogs and reference works, with some listing 1628 as his death year and others 1638. What remains clear is his place as an important early modern Occitan author whose work connects scholarship, medicine, and the literary culture of Gascony.