Author: Mancini, Barbon Mazarin
Biography:
MANCINI, Barbon Mazarin (1716-98: NBU)
A French writer, recently deceased, and at one time ambassador to the English court--where he was known as the Duke of Nivernois (in France, duc de Nivernais)--Mancini was a timely choice for his translator, Josiah Walker (q.v.). His full name was Louis-Jules Barbon Mancini-Mazarini; he was born in Paris on 16 Dec. 1716, son and heir of Philippe Jules François Mancini, Duke of Nevers (d 1768), and his wife Anna Maria Spinola. He was married at fifteen to Hélène de Pontchartrain (1715-81), to whom, as Délie (Delia), he addressed some of his earliest published poetry; they had five children but only two daughters grew to maturity. After her death he married Marie-Thérèse de Brancas, widow of the Count of Rochefort; she too died, however, not long after their marriage. Mancini served with distinction as a colonel in campaigns in Italy and Germany (1734-43), then resigned on the grounds of ill health and returned to Paris, where he was promptly elected to the Académie française. He was later ambassador to Rome, Berlin, and London. At the Revolution he remained loyal to Louis XVI, was imprisoned in 1793, and lost his titles and estates. But he was released in 1794 after the death of Robespierre and began to prepare his collected works for publication. Eight volumes duly appeared in 1796, starting with two volumes of Fables; other works include literary essays, imitations of classical authors, and translations of Pope, Ovid, Metastasio, and Ariosto. He died in Paris on 25 Feb. 1798. (NBU 38 [1852]; Wikipedia 10 Mar. 2023) SR