French poet.

Served at the Court of King Stanislas in Lorraine, where he gained fame and notoriety for his amorous liaison with Voltaire’s mistress, the marquise de Châtelet.

Went to Paris. Was received in the best salons, met his lifelong companion and amie intime the comtesse d’Houdetot, and befriended people of literary distinction such as Diderot, Grimm, and Duclos.

Considered arrogant and a mediocre poet, he was nevertheless loudly acclaimed and admitted to the Académie Française in 1770.

Born in Nancy.