Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Claude Favre de Vaugelas Born
at Meximieux , in the Ain départment of France of Ain. He became
gentleman-in-waiting to Gaston, Duke of Orleans, and continued
faithful to this prince in his disgrace, although his fidelity
cost him a pension from the crown on which he was largely
dependent. His thorough knowledge of the French language and the
correctness of his speech won for him a place among the original
members of the Académie française in 1634. On the representation
of his colleagues his pension was restored so that he might have
leisure to pursue his Remarques sur la langue française (1647).
In this work he maintained that words and expressions were to be
judged by the current usage of the best society, of which, as an
habituel of the Hotel de Rambouillet, Vaugelas was a competent
judge. He shares with Malherbe the credit of having purified
French diction. His book fixed the current usage, and the
classical writers of the 17th century regulated their practice
by it. Prote