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Sophie Volland
Louise-Henriette Volland, known as Sophie Volland (1716-1784), was a correspondent and lover of Denis Diderot. None of the letters she wrote have survived. Biography Louise-Henriette Volland was born November 27, 1716. She met Diderot in the spring of 1755. Diderot soon gave her the sobriquet of "Sophie", after the Greek word meaning "wisdom", because he valued her insights so much as a friend and a frequent correspondent. Their affair lasted from 1755 until her death in 1784. Sophie was regularly informed by Diderot about events, artists, and writers of the time. She was a confidante for the ''philosophe'' to whom he could talk in detail about his work, his collaborations, and his private affairs. He also trusted her advice and sought consolation from her. She was unmarried and had a difficult relationship with her mother with whom she had to reside in Isle for six months of every year away from Diderot, though she would have preferred to live in Paris Paris () is the cap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Women Letter Writers
Women letter writers in early modern Europe created lengthy correspondences, where they expressed their intellect and their creativity; in the process, they also left a rich historical legacy. Over time, a large number of women's correspondences have been made the subject of publications. Some among them ignored the literary value of these missives that were sometimes circulated by their recipients. Some correspondences were, on the other hand, strictly private and their literary value—and historic value, as well—was not revealed until the rediscovery of these letters, perhaps long after the death of their authors, as in the case of Élisabeth Bégon, whose correspondence was not discovered until 1932 in the archives of the French Ministry of the Navy. It is usually agreed that what makes these letters distinctive emanates from their spontaneity. Marie de Sévigné was the incarnation of this quality, to the point of becoming considered by many as the archetype of the wom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment. Diderot initially studied philosophy at a Jesuit college, then considered working in the church clergy before briefly studying law. When he decided to become a writer in 1734, his father disowned him. He lived a bohemian existence for the next decade. In the 1740s he wrote many of his best-known works in both fiction and non-fiction, including the 1748 novel ''The Indiscreet Jewels''. In 1751, Diderot co-created the ''Encyclopédie'' with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was the first encyclopedia to include contributions from many named contributors and the first to describe the mechanical arts. Its secular tone, which included articles skeptical about Biblical miracles, angered both religious and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophes
The ''philosophes'' () were the intellectuals of the 18th-century Enlightenment.Kishlansky, Mark, ''et al.'' ''A Brief History of Western Civilization: The Unfinished Legacy, volume II: Since 1555.'' (5th ed. 2007). Few were primarily philosophers; rather, philosophes were public intellectuals who applied reason to the study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics, and social issues. They had a critical eye and looked for weaknesses and failures that needed improvement. They promoted a "republic of letters" that crossed national boundaries and allowed intellectuals to freely exchange books and ideas. Most philosophes were men, but some were women. They strongly endorsed progress and tolerance, and distrusted organized religion (most were deists) and feudal institutions. Many contributed to Diderot's ''Encyclopédie''. They faded away after the French Revolution reached a violent stage in 1793. Characterization ''Philosophe'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isle-sur-Marne
Isle-sur-Marne (, literally ''Isle on Marne'') is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French department of Marne. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Islesurmarne {{Marne-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, and science. For its leading role in the arts and sciences, as well as its very early system of street lighting, in the 19th century it became known as "the City of Light". Like London, prior to the Second World War, it was also sometimes called the capital of the world. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an estimated population of 12,262,544 in 2019, or about 19% of the population of France, making the region France's primate city. The Paris Region had a GDP of €739 billion ($743 billion) in 2019, which is the highest in Europe. According to the Economist Intelli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Age Of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries with global influences and effects. The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, and constitutional government. The Enlightenment was preceded by the Scientific Revolution and the work of Francis Bacon, John Locke, and others. Some date the beginning of the Enlightenment to the publication of René Descartes' ''Discourse on the Method'' in 1637, featuring his famous dictum, ''Cogito, ergo sum'' ("I think, therefore I am"). Others cite the publication of Isaac Newto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mélanie De Salignac
Mélanie de Salignac (1741-1763) was a blind French musician whose achievements in the face of her disability were mentioned in the accounts of Diderot. She was born at the , the daughter of financier Pierre Vallet de Salignac and Marie-Jeanne Élisabeth Volland, who was the sister of Sophie Volland. Her older brother was the politician . She was born blind long before the invention of Braille in 1829, but taught herself to read using cut out card letters and achieved much more through her sense of touch. She devised a tactile version of music notation, which she used to read compositions and correspond with friends. Diderot wrote about her achievements in his "Addition to the Letter on the Blind". He noted that she had learned some algebra, geometry, geography and astronomy. She wrote by pricking a pin on a stretched out piece of paper and read books which were printed especially for her. She also sewed and played card games. He took inspiration from her skills and believed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
18th-century Letter Writers
The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 (Roman numerals, MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 (Roman numerals, MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American Revolution, American, French Revolution, French, and Haitian Revolution, Haitian Revolutions. During the century, History of slavery, slave trading and human trafficking expanded across the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, while declining in Russian Empire, Russia, Qing dynasty, China, and Joseon, Korea. Revolutions began to challenge the legitimacy of monarchical and aristocratic power structures, including the structures and beliefs that Proslavery, supported slavery. The Industrial Revolution began during mid-century, leading to radical changes in Society, human society and the Natural environment, environment. Western historians have occasionally defined the 18th century otherwise for the purposes of their work. For example, the "short" 18th cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1716 Births
Events January–March * January 16 – The application of the Nueva Planta decrees to Catalonia make it subject to the laws of the Crown of Castile, and abolishes the Principality of Catalonia as a political entity, concluding the unification of Spain under Philip V. * January 27 – The Tugaloo massacre changes the course of the Yamasee War, allying the Cherokee nation with the British province of South Carolina against the Creek Indian nation. * January 28 – The town of Crieff, Scotland, is burned to the ground by Jacobites returning from the Battle of Sheriffmuir. * February 3 – The 1716 Algiers earthquake sequence began with an 7.0 mainshock that caused severe damage and killed 20,000 in Algeria. * February 10 – James Edward Stuart flees from Scotland to France with a handful of supporters, following the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1715. * February 24 – Jacobite leaders James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater and W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
