Lefèvre d'Etaples, Jacques (c. 1453–1536)

French humanist and theologian. He studied Greek in Italy and translated several works by Aristotle. He also published studies of the Scriptures (which influenced Martin Luther) and made the first translation of the Bible into French.

Born at Etaples, Lefèvre became a priest and a teacher of philosophy in Paris. He went to Italy in the 1480s and studied there for several years, his main influence being the scholar Ermolao Barbaro. Lefèvre's main interest was Aristotle, though he was also aware of contemporary neo-Platonism and read the works of medieval mystics.

Around 1505 he was teaching Greek in Paris. In 1507 he won the support of a former pupil, Guillaume Briçonnet, then bishop of Lodèeve, who made him the librarian of the abbey of St Germain-des-Prés. Lefèvre later moved to Meaux, where Briçonnet was now bishop.

During these years Lefèvre turned his attention from Greek classics to the scriptures, publishing his Commentaires sur les épîtres de Saint Paul/Commentary on the Epistles of St Paul in 1512, a work that helped to form Luther's views on grace and faith. This was followed in 1522 by a commentary on the Gospels and in 1523 by the first French translation of the New Testament (from the Vulgate). This was followed in 1528 by his translation of the Old Testament.

Lefèvre's works aroused the antagonism of the scholars of the Sorbonne in Paris and in 1525 he had to take refuge in Strasbourg, where he became tutor to the children of the French king Francis I. He soon retired to Nérac, where he enjoyed the protection of Marguerite of Navarre for the last five years of his life.