DUREAU DE LA MALLE, Jean Baptiste Joseph Rene, French scholar, born in Santo Domingo, 21 November 1742; died in Landres, France, 19 September 1807. He became an orphan in infancy, and was sent to France when five years old. In 1749 he entered the College of Plessis, where he distinguished himself for scholarship. Afterward, his parents having left him a competence, he devoted himself to literature. His thorough knowledge of the principal European languages and his fondness for comparative philology led him to the study of the classics later in life. His house in Paris became the resort of the most distinguished literary men in France, and he was intimate with La Harpe, D'Alembert, Marmontel, and Delille. Dureau was named a member of the corps legislative in 1802, and of the institute in 1804. He published "Trait6 des Bienfaits," a translation from Seneca (1776), and a translation of the works of Tacitus, which was at once recognized as superior to all previous French translations of that author (3 vols., 1790). After his death appeared his translations of Sallust (1808), Livy (1810), and Valerius Flaccus (1812).