From the name of Jacques de la Palisse, a French military officer. His epitaph reads Ci gît Monſieur de la Palice: s'il n'était pas mort, il ferait encore envie(“Here lies the lord of La Palice: if he weren't dead, he would still be envied”). However, it was misread (accidentally or intentionally) as the truism...il ſerait encore en vie(“...he would still be alive”).