Jean Baptiste Rousseau, a French poet, born in Paris, April 6, 1670, died in Brussels, March 17, 1741. His first play was performed in 1694 with little success, and his last, Le capri-cieux, in 1700, was still less successful. Ascribing his failure to jealous authors, he satirized them with great virulence, and made many enemies; while his contempt for his father because he was a shoemaker gave rise to the poem Le mérite personnel, by La Motte, the son of a hatter, who was elected to the academy instead of Rousseau. In 1712 he was sentenced for licentious and slanderous writing, though perhaps unjustly, to perpetual banishment, and went to Switzerland, and subsequently settled in Brussels. He made a fortune by publishing his works in England, but lost it, and was suppported by the duke of Arenenberg, who gave him a pension and rooms in his palace. His complete works were published by Amar-Durivier (5 vols., Paris, 1820). The most recent edition of his Oeuvres lyriques is by Manuel (1852).