Pierre François Guyot des (1685–1745), a French critic of considerable note. He was a member of the Society of Jesus, and held various ecclesiastical appointments, but at the age of thirty he renounced the church and devoted himself to literature. In 1724 he became editor of the Journal des Scavants, which he did much to rescue from the discredit into which it had fallen. From the imputation of an infamous crime for which he was imprisoned he was saved by Voltaire; though between him and his benefactor there afterwards broke out one of the most bitter and disgraceful literary quarrels on record. Des Fontaines constituted himself the leader of an anti-Voltairean movement, and reviewed some of Voltaire's works with unjustifiable severity. That author retaliated, and exerted all his influence, political, literary, and social, to ruin his quondam friend. Even after Des Fontaines' death Voltaire strove to tarnish his memory, and held him up to ridicule in Le Paure Diable. Des Fontaines, however, had some of the qualities of a good critic. He possessed a solid judgment, quick insight, and very considerable learning. But he was neither impartial nor disinterested, and, as a writer, is little above mediocrity. His principal works are a prose-version of the Æneid; translations of various works of Swift and Pope; and some novels deservedly forgotten. He also contributed largely to the Journal des Scavants, the Nouveliste du Parnasse, and other periodicals.