Jacques Grévin

Jacques Grévin (born 1538, Clermont-en-Beauvais, Fr.—died Nov. 5, 1570, Turin, Savoy) was a French poet and dramatist who is credited with writing the first original French plays to observe the form of classical tragedies and comedies. Before becoming a doctor of medicine at the University of Paris, Grévin wrote several successful comedies, including La Trésorière (performed 1559; “The Paymistress”). His comedies, licentious in tone, imitated the regular form of the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence...