A Biography of François Rabelais
French Monk, Doctor and Writer Famous for Gargantua and Pantagruel
Apr 20, 2009
François Rabelais was a French author who wrote hilarious classics and one of the greatest books ever written in French, Gargantua and Pantagruel. He was also a Franciscan friar, a Benedictine monk and doctor.
Early Life of François Rabelais
Rabelais was born c. 1494 or 1495, near the town of Chinon in western France. His father was a lawyer. By the age of 15, he had joined a monastery. That time, the Church was the only place where most people could hope to receive an education.
The period he lived was during the Renaissance when scholars in monasteries were starting to study ancient Greek and Roman texts that had been ignored for centuries. They were also rediscovering knowledge that had been forgotten.
Rabelais became a leading scholar in the study of ancient Greek books, and in particular, the study of medical works.
Rabelais the Physician-Surgeon
In 1527, Rabelais left the monastery without permission and enrolled as a medical student at the University of Montpellier in the south of France.
A few years later, when he was probably 38, he became a physician at the general hospital in Lyon.
He performed one of the first human dissections in France.
Rabelais the Writer
In the same year he started his practice as a doctor, the first part of his famous comedy, Gargantua and Pantagruel, was also published under the pen name Alcofribas Nasier, actually an anagram of his real name.
Rabelais's books are satires on French society of the time.
Gargantua and Pantagruel
This book that made him famous are mock-adventures of a father and son who are preposterous giants, therefore the use of the word "gargantuan." The adventures include fighting, feasting and a lot more of desiring and coveting of earthly things, with elaborate satire.
Gargantua and Pantagruel, the two main characters, are simple-minded giants living in a world populated by idiots, greedy aristocrats and corrupt monks. They are renowned even today for being extremely rude and very funny. Gargantua and Pantagruel was an instant success, and Rabelais wrote three more volumes in the years that followed.
Rabelais has a way of treating life with humor despite ups and down, often referred to Rabelaisian spirit. He traveled in Europe, knew Hebrew and Greek, and wrote Lating treatises on archaeology as well as medicine. He died at the age of 59, April 9, 1553.
Books by François Rabelais
- Gargantua and Pantagruel, 1532-1552
- Pantagrueline Prognostication, 1533
Sources:
- Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994.
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002.
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997.
 |
