Marmontel, Jean François

Marmontel, Jean François

(zhäN fräNswä` märmôNtĕl`), 1723–99, French critic, dramatist, and story writer, contributor to Diderot's Encyclopédie. Educated by the Jesuits, he taught in Jesuit schools until 1745, when, encouraged by Voltaire, he went to Paris. His works, popular in his day, include Denys le tyran (1748), a tragedy; Contes moraux, which appeared in the Mercure between 1761 and 1786; Bélisaire (1767), a plea for tolerance; and his Mémoires (4 vol., 1804), written for his children. He was a member of the French Academy.