Pierre-Antoine de La Place facts for kids

Pierre-Antoine de La Place (born March 1, 1707, in Calais; died May 14, 1793, in Paris) was a French writer and playwright from the 1700s. He is famous for being the first person to translate the plays of William Shakespeare into French.

Early Life and Career

Pierre-Antoine de La Place went to school at the Jesuit College of Saint-Omer. After college, he had to work hard to improve his French, which he had partly forgotten.

At first, his writings were not very popular. So, he came up with a funny idea: he spread a rumor in Paris that he had died! This news was even published in a newspaper. When people found out it was a trick, they laughed at him. But this prank actually made him famous and helped him get noticed.

At that time, English literature was very popular in France. La Place quickly started translating English works, which became his main source of income. In 1750, he was the first to translate Tom Jones, a famous book by Henry Fielding. He also translated works by Fielding's sister, Sarah Fielding.

Becoming Well-Known

La Place once helped Madame de Pompadour, who was a very important person in the French court. Because of her, he became the Secretary of the Academy of Arras. In 1760, he also got the special permission to publish the Mercure de France, a popular French magazine. However, under his leadership, fewer people subscribed to the magazine. So, he had to leave around 1767. As a comfort, he received a good pension of 5,000 pounds a year.

But what truly made him famous was his book series called le Théâtre anglois (The English Theater). The first volume of this important work was published in Paris in 1745.

His Work on English Theater

In the first four books of le Théâtre anglois, La Place included a special introduction about English plays. He also wrote about Shakespeare's life. Most importantly, he translated ten of Shakespeare's plays into French. These included famous ones like Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Cymbeline, and Julius Caesar. He also provided summaries for twenty-six other Shakespeare plays.

In the next four books of his series, La Place translated plays by other important English writers. These included Ben Jonson, Thomas Otway, Edward Young, John Dryden, and William Congreve, among others.

Challenges and Other Translations

While many people liked his translation work, it also caused some problems. For example, the famous French writer Voltaire did not like Shakespeare very much. Voltaire also didn't like that La Place was becoming known as the expert on Shakespeare in France.

La Place also translated Oroonoko into French in 1745. However, this was more of an adaptation, meaning he changed it quite a bit, rather than a direct translation.

According to Jean-François de La Harpe, who wrote about him, La Place was "a great braggart, but compelling, flexible, active, and over all a man of fun and good food." This means he liked to boast, but he was also charming, adaptable, and enjoyed life.

Pierre-Antoine de La Place also wrote some of his own plays. However, these were not very successful. It even took a direct order from a powerful duke to make actors perform one of his plays, Adèle de Ponthieu. He sometimes used different pen names, like "Skunk" and "Skupk."

He was also the great-great-grandson of Pierre de la Place. This ancestor was a philosopher and an important judge in Paris who was sadly killed during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.

Major Works

• Le Théâtre anglais (1745–1748)