He was born on December 1, 1580 in the town of Beaugensier in Provence, into a family that had originally come from Pisa. Having completed his education in Aix under the guidance of the Jesuits, with whom he had begun in Avignon, he went to Padua where he mingled with the most prominent personalities of that city and of nearby Venice. Upon his return home he spent some time in Paris before traveling to England and Holland, where he cultivated relations above all with literary circles, and continued to nurture them by way of one of the most remarkable correspondences of his time. On being elected a council member of the Parliament of Aix, he made his wonderfully hospitable home (where he hosted Cardinal Barberini in grand style on his return from his French Legation in 1625) an international meeting ground, which embraced, beyond Europe, the Levant, the Barbary States and even Mongolia, as well as a museum to house his collections of rare books, manuscripts, instruments, art objects, medals, coins, plants and animals. He published nothing or almost nothing in his lifetime, but was extraordinarily prolific as a patron and propagator of the arts, earning the title of "Procurator General of Literature". He died in Aix on June 24, 1637.

The Works of Galileo Galilei, national edition edited by Antonio Favaro, Florence, Barbčra, 1899-1909, vol. XX, Biographical Index, to v.