Alexis Piron, a French dramatist, born in Dijon, July 9, 1689, died in Paris, Jan. 21, 1773. He took his degree as an advocate at Besancon, but had not the means to sustain himself in that profession. A licentious ode, which he composed in his 20th year, made him famous. In 1719 he went to Paris, where he led a precarious existence, first as a secretary of Belle-Isle, Fouquet's grandson, and next as a playwright. His reputation as a dramatist was firmly established in 1738 by his masterpiece La metromanie, an admirable comedy. But few of his tragedies were successful, though Piron regarded himself as equal to Voltaire, who never missed an opportunity to chastise his presumption. Piron was regarded as one of the brilliant wits of his day; and he was one of the founders of the celebrated convivial society, le caveau. In 1753 he was elected to the academy, but the king refused his assent on account of the objectionable ode of his younger days, whereupon he suggested as his epitaph:

Ci-git Piron. qui ne flit rien, Pas meme academicien.

The king, however, gave him a pension of 1,000 livres. Eigoley de Juvigny published his works with a biography (7 vols., 1776); and in 1859 appeared his (Euvres inedites, by Honore Bonhomme. - His wife, Marie Therese Quenadon, known also as Mile, de Bar (1688-1751), was almost as witty and accomplished as her husband, but she became insane in 1745.