Durand, Francois Jacques

Durand, Francois Jacques, a French Protestant minister, was born at Semale, near Aleneon, in 1727, of a Roman Catholic family. As soon as he had completed his preparatory studies at Paris, Durand applied himself to the study of theology, and returned in 1775 to Lausanne to embrace the Reformed religion. He was licensed to preach in January, 1760, and soon acquired an enviable reputation as preacher. In 1768 Durand was appointed director of the new seminary at Berne and pastor of the French church at that place. At the same time he continued to instruct in ecclesiastical history, statistics, civil history and in Christian morals at Lausanne, where he died, April, 1816. Besides a number of miscellaneous works, Durand published L'Esrit de Saurin, ouvrage utile a toutes les families chretiennes (Lausanne, 1767, 2 volumes, 12mo): Sermons sur les solemnites chretiennes (Lausanne, 1767, 3 volumes, 8vo; Avignon and Paris, 1776): L'Annee evangelique, ou sermons pour tous les dimanches ou fetes de l'annee (Lausanne, 1780, 7 vols. 8vo; and with Supplement, Lausanne, 1792, 2 volumes, 8vo). A sketch of his life, with certain Sermons nouveaux, by Armand Delille, appeared at Valence (1805, 2 volumes, 12mo). Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 15:423.