dupin was born at paris, coming from a noble family of normandy. his mother, a vitart, was the niece of marie des moulins, grandmother of the poet jean racine. when ten years old he entered the college of harcourt, where he graduated m.a. in 1672. at the age of twenty dupin accompanied racine, who made a visit to nicole for the purpose of becoming reconciled to the gentlemen of port royal. but, while not hostile to the jansenists, dupin's intellectual attraction was in another direction; he was the disciple of jean launoy, a learned critic and a gallican. he became a pupil of the sorbonne, and received the degree of b.d. in 1680 and that of d.d. in 1684.