GILBERT, NICOLAS JOSEPH LAURENT (1751 1780), French poet, was born at Fontenay-le-Château in Lorraine. In '774 he came to Paris, where he became known as an opponent of the Encyclopaedists and a panegyrist of Louis XV. The satiric force of one or two of his pieces, as Mon Apologie (1778) and Le Dix-huitieme Siecle (1775), justify his reputation, which has been further increased by writers, who, like Alfred de Vigny in his Stello (chaps. 7-13), considered him a victim to the spite of his philosophic opponents. His best-known verses are the Ode imitee de plusieurs psaumes, usually entitled Adieux a la vie.
Gilbert's Oeuvres completes were first published in 1788, and they have since been edited by Mastrella (1823) , by Charles Nodier (1817 or 2825) and by M. de Lescure (1882).