Nicolas Chamfort
SbastienRoch Nicolas, also known as Chamfort , was a French writer, best known for his witty epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary to Louis XVIs sister, and of the Jacobin club.
Chamfort was born SbastienRoch Nicolas, ClermontFerrand, PuydeDme onApril 1741, according to a baptismal certificate from SaintGens parish in ClermontFerrand, to a grocer named Nicolas. OnJune, a second birth certificate gives him the name 160Sbastien Roch160 from unknown parents160. A journey to Paris resulted in the boy obtaining a bursary at the Collge des Grassins. He worked hard, although one of his most contemptuous epigrams reads Ce que jai appris je ne le sais plus le peu que je sais encore, je lai devin . When the principal of the College promised Chamfort a benefice, he replied that he could not accept because he preferred honour to honours, jaime lhonneur et non les honneurs. About this time he assumed the name of Chamfort.
Source: Wikipedia