Jean-Jacques Porchat
BiographyJean-Jacques Porchat (May 20, 1800–March 2, 1864) was a Swiss author, chansonnier, poet, translator, jurist, and professor of law and Latin literature. In particular he translated Goethe’s complete works from German to French.
After beginning theological studies, he studied law at the Academy of Lausanne between 1820 and 1821, then in Germany and Paris. In 1823 he obtained the chair of Roman law and criminal law at the Academy of Lausanne. A year earlier he had published, under the pseudonym Jean-Jacques Valamont, a poem on Montbenon, then others followed. After teaching law for a few years, he turned to literature full time. He was appointed professor of Latin literature at the Academy of Lausanne in 1832. It was at this time that he published the Poésies vaudoises, the sales of which enabled him to found a recitation prize. In 1843 he staged his play Bonaparte in Villeneuve at the Théâtre de Marterey. After losing, re-acquiring, and then losing his chair again, he moved to Paris with his family, where he became a professor of ancient literature. He also composed books for young people and became a translator.
Originally from Penthalaz and Mont-sur-Rolle, he spent his youth in Rolle. On February 16, 1825, he married Louise-Marie-Sylvie Bressenel. They had four children: Amélie (1827), Albert (1828), Caroline (1829) and Louise (1834). He died in his house in the Montoie district of Lausanne and was buried in the cemetery of Ouchy, since disappeared.
Bibliography (wildly incomplete)
Poésies vaudoises (1832)
Bonaparte in Villeneuve (1843)
Three Months Under the Snow: The Journal of a Young Inhabitant of the Jura (1850)
Charles Roussel; or, Industry and Honesty (1853)
Other links
Wikipedia
WorldCat Identities