Amyot, Jacques (1513-1593)

French bishop and classical scholar, one of the leading translators of his day. From 1536 to about 1546 he was professor of Latin and Greek at Bourges, where he began translating classical works, notably Plutarch's Lives. When retranslated into English by Thomas North in 1579, this became Shakespeare's major source for his Roman plays.

He was born at Melun and educated at Paris University. After teaching at Bourges, he visited Italy and in 1554 became tutor to the sons of Henry II (the future Charles IX and Henry III).

His major translations include L'Histoire éthiopique/Ethiopian History by Heliodorus (1548); Daphnis et Chloé by Longus (1559); and, above all, Plutarch. His translation of Plutarch's Lives, finally completed under the patronage of Francis I in 1559, supplied the French writers and playwrights of several generations with characters and situations.

Amyot's version of Plutarch's Moralia appeared in 1572, completing a task of translating Plutarch that caused him to be hailed by his contemporaries as ‘le prince des traducteurs’ (the ‘prince of translators’). Favoured by four successive French kings, Amyot was finally made bishop of Auxerre in 1570, where he spent the rest of his life.