Georges de Selve
Georges de Selve was a French scholar, diplomat and ecclesiastic.Biography
He was the son of Jean de Selve, a jurist and Parlement president, and brother of Odet de Selve. Three other brothers served as diplomats.
Georges de Selve was Bishop of Lavaur from 1526 to 1540. He was sent by King Francis I of France as ambassador to the Republic of Venice, Austria, to the Pope in Rome, to England, Germany and Spain.
He is the figure of the right in a picture by Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors, and Jean de Dinteville is the other one, which hangs in the National Gallery, London. De Selve was just 25 when Holbein painted him and he is wearing the vestments of a clergyman, who represent the interests of the Catholic Church, since he had just been appointed Bishop of Lavau in France.
He wrote on theology, studied with and was a patron of Eli Levita from 1534, and was commissioned by the king to make translations.
He died on 12 February 1541 at the age of 33 and is interred at Lavaur Cathedral.
