PORTUS, Francis, an eminent philologist, was born in the isle of Candia in 1511, and received his education at Padua. The classical attainments which he now showed were destined to be matured by a long and varied experience as a teacher. He began life by holding for some time the directorship of the school for young Greeks at Venice. He then occupied, for the space of six years, the chair of Grecian literature at Modena. His next post was that of tutor to the sons of the Duchess Renée of France, who was then living at Ferrara. At length, in 1562, he was found at Geneva, a refugee on account of his adherence to Protestant opinions, and the professor of Greek in the university of that city. It was about this time that Francis Portus became known as a philological writer. He published commentaries and annotations upon Pindar, some of the works of Xenophon, Thucydides, Aristotle's Rhetoric, Longinus, and some other writers. After his death in 1581, his posthumous works were published by his son Emilius, in 4to, 1584.