BONNEFONS, or BONNEFONIUS, JOHN, a Latin poet, was born at Clermont in Auvergne in 1554. He studied law under Cujas at Bourges; became an advocate in the parliament of Paris; was appointed lieutenant-general of Bar-sur-Seine; and acquired great reputation by his Pancharis and other poems. He died in 1612, in the sixtieth year of his age. He must not be confounded with John Bonnefons, his son, another Latin poet, or with Dom Elia Benedict Bonnefons, a benedictine of the congregation of St Maur. The most complete edition of his works is that of Amsterdam, 1767, 12mo, entitled Joannis Bonnefonii, patris, Arvernii Opera Omnia.