Moncrif, François-Augustin Paradis de

Moncrif, François-Augustin Paradis de (1687, Paris; 13 November 1770, Paris), librettist, lost his father early in life, but his mother provided him and his younger brother with excellent educations. He became a proficient swordsman, and his wit and talent as a writer won him influential friends in high places. He came to know the count d’Argenson and was made reader to the queen and secretary to the duke d’Orléans. He was received into the French Academy in 1733, and he was also invited to…