Du Bois, Philippe Goibaud, sieur, 1626-1694

Philippe Goibaut des Bois La Grugère (pronounced [filip ɡwabo de bwɑ la ɡʁyʒɛʁ]; 22? March 1629 – 1 July 1694), known to his contemporaries as Monsieur Du Bois (pronounced [məsjø dy bwɑ]), was a translator of St. Augustine, member of the Académie Française and director of Mademoiselle de Guise's musical ensemble. Goibaut is the preferred spelling: that is how he signed his name. One of his detractors claimed that Goibaut began his career as dancing master to the young Louis Joseph, Duke of Guise and did not learn Latin until he was thirty, when the Jansenist “Messieurs” of Port-Royal became his spiritual and intellectual mentors. In 1965 Jean Mesnard's research into the circle around Blaise Pascal proved the inaccuracy of this legend. Mesnard's findings have shaped the biography that follows.