Jean de Tournes was born in 1539. He took over his father's printing and publishing business in 1564. He was a
Huguenot protestant. In 1567, during the
French Wars of Religion, his press was sacked and he was imprisoned for two months. He was imprisoned again in 1572, but escaped the
Saint Bartholemew's Day Massacre. In 1585, following the edict of
Henri III that protestants must abjure their religion or leave the country, he moved to
Geneva. He began printing there in about 1590. He became a
bourgeois in 1596, and a member of the
Conseil des Deux Cents in 1604. He died in 1615 and was succeeded in the family firm by his son Jean de Tournes. The emblem of the de Tournes press was two entwined
vipers. Their
mottoes included ; ; and . ==References==