author
M. de Moncrif
1687–1770
A witty man of letters at the court of Louis XV, he moved easily between poetry, theater, and polite society. He is still remembered for turning a playful fascination with cats into one of the strangest literary successes of 18th-century France.
1 Audiobook
Essais sur la necessité et les moyens de plaire
by M. de Moncrif
About the author
Born in Paris in 1687, M. de Moncrif—François-Augustin de Paradis de Moncrif—was a French writer and poet who became a familiar figure in fashionable literary and court circles. He was known for his charm and versatility, and he eventually served as royal historiographer to Louis XV.
Moncrif wrote poems, plays, librettos, and essays, but his most famous work was Histoire des chats, a lighthearted book about cats that made him both popular and easy to mock. That mix of elegance and comic notoriety helped fix his reputation as a graceful, entertaining author rather than a solemn one.
He was elected to the Académie française in 1733 and remained active in literary life until his death in Paris on November 19, 1770. Today he is remembered as a distinctly 18th-century voice: courtly, clever, and never far from wit.