Alexandre Deleyre (5 or 10 January 1726,

Portets Portets (; oc-gsc, Portèth) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Portets station has rail connections to Langon and Bordeaux. Population See also * Château de Mongenan, a chateau and botanic ...

near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

– 10 March 1797, Paris aged 71) was an 18th-century French man of letters and translator from Latin. He was a friend of J.J. Rousseau, who used his translations of

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into En ...

for compositions.

Biography

Alexandre Deleyre was the son of the bailiff Jean Deleyre from the province

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne (, ; oc, Guiana ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transformation o ...

. He studied at a

Jesuit college The Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in the Catholic Church have founded and managed a number of educational institutions, including the notable secondary schools, colleges and universities listed here. Some of these universities are in the United Stat ...

in Bordeaux but lost his faith. He chose for the bar (law) but then decided to move to Paris. There he looked for other

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the princi ...

became the patron of Deleyre and introduced him to the Encyclopedists, Charles Duclos and Baron d'Holbach. In 1754 he worked for the ''

Journal des Savants A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

''. From November 1756 to March 1757 he worked for the ' with Baron von Grimm. This journal was published by

Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Suard Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Suard (15 January 1732 – 20 July 1817) was a French journalist, translator and man of letters during the Age of Enlightenment. He was born in Besançon and died in Paris. Biography Suard was incarcerated in the ''Royal ...

, François Arnaud,

Antoine François Prévost Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

and the lawyer Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Gerbier.He cooperated with

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 promi ...

Claude Adrien Helvétius Claude Adrien Helvétius (; ; 26 January 1715 – 26 December 1771) was a French philosopher, freemason and ''littérateur''. Life Claude Adrien Helvétius was born in Paris, France, and was descended from a family of physicians, originally su ...

and

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

, philosophers of the French

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 intel ...

. Deleyre contributed with two articles, one on stickpins ('' Épingle'') and '' Fanatisme'' to the ''

Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...

''; his article on ''Fortune'' was refused. In his ''

Dictionnaire philosophique The (''Philosophical Dictionary'') is an encyclopedic dictionary published by the Enlightenment thinker Voltaire in 1764. The alphabetically arranged articles often criticize the Roman Catholic Church, Judaism, Islam, and other institutions. T ...

'',

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

would make use of his article on

fanaticism Fanaticism (from the Latin adverb ''fānāticē'' ren-''fānāticus''; enthusiastic, ecstatic; raging, fanatical, furious is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm. Definitions Philosopher George Santayan ...

. In June 1758 he left for Liège where he wrote for the ' by

Pierre Rousseau Pierre Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (11 February 1905 – 1983) was a French essayist, epistemologist, astronomer and journalist who authored numerous popular science essays and articles. He helped promote hard science to the general public and advocat ...

. After joining the army for a couple of weeks, he became secretary of Choiseul, the French ambassador in Vienna during the height of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

(1759). In 1760 he wanted to get married but when the priest found out he was the author of ''Fanatisme'' he was ordered to rewrite the article, humiliate himself and swear an oath on being a good catholic. Protected by the Duke of Nivernais, ambassador in Berlin and London who had been friendly with Montesquieu, he was appointed

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

of Philip, Duke of Parma at the end of the year. He cooperated with

Guillaume du Tillot Léon Guillaume (du) Tillot (Bayonne, 22 May 1711 — Paris, 1774) was a French politician infused with liberal ideals of the Enlightenment, who from 1759 was the minister of the Duchy of Parma under Philip, Duke of Parma and his wife Princess Lou ...

and disagreed with Etienne Condillac as the governor of

Ferdinand, Duke of Parma Ferdinand I (''Ferdinando Maria Filippo Lodovico Sebastiano Francesco Giacomo''; 20 January 1751 – 9 October 1802) was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla from his father's death on 18 July 1765 until he ceded the duchy to France by the Trea ...

from 1660 till 1768 when they both left. Around 1774 he cooperated with the

Abbé Raynal ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek language, Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is th ...

on his book on the two Indies. He wrote about the conquest of

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...

, the religion of the

Chukchi people The Chukchi, or Chukchee ( ckt, Ԓыгъоравэтԓьэт, О'равэтԓьэт, ''Ḷygʺoravètḷʹèt, O'ravètḷʹèt''), are a Siberian indigenous people native to the Chukchi Peninsula, the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Beri ...

, the Lapps, the Eskimos, the concept of

happiness Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. ...

and attacked global colonization. He disagreed with Diderot who went to Russia in 1773 on an invitation by Catherine the Great. In 1776 he was depressed and Deleyre settled in

Dammarie-lès-Lys Dammarie-lès-Lys (; officially Dammarie-les-Lys) is a commune in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region from the center of Paris. History During the French Revol ...

closer to nature. In 1789 he was elected in Cadillac as a deputy to the

Constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

and in September 1792 to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

for Landes. He joined

Montagnards Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to: * Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s) ** Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of t ...

, where he would address the issue of national education, based on Emile, or On Education, proposing to add a garden to every school. He voted for the

execution of Louis XVI The execution of Louis XVI by guillotine, a major event of the French Revolution, took place publicly on 21 January 1793 at the ''Place de la Révolution'' ("Revolution Square", formerly ''Place Louis XV'', and renamed ''Place de la Concorde'' in ...

in January 1793. The uprising of the Parisian

sans-culotte The (, 'without breeches') were the common people of the lower classes in late 18th-century France, a great many of whom became radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution in response to their poor quality of life under the . T ...

s, resulted in the armed Insurrection of 31 May - 2 June 1793 and 31 Girondins, who voted against the execution of the king (in January) were placed under

house-arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allo ...

. Some escaped and joined the

counter-revolution A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

. In 1795 he was elected in the

Council of Ancients The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders (french: Conseil des Anciens) was the upper house of the French legislature under the Constitution of the Year III, during the period commonly known as the Directory (French: ''Directoire''), from ...

. In 1796 he published a rapport on the Corsican refugees, and on

Palais Bourbon The Palais Bourbon () is the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, on the '' Rive Gauche'' of the Seine, across from the Place de la Con ...

. He died on 20

Ventôse Ventôse (; also ''Ventose'') was the sixth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''ventosus'', which means ''windy''. Ventôse was the third month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''). It start ...

.Nouvelles politiques, nationales et étrangères, 14 mars 1797

Main works

*1755: ''Analyse de la philosophie du chancelier François Bacon'' ; *1759: ''Le Génie de

'' ; *1761: ''L'Esprit de Saint-Évremond'' ; *1761: ''Histoire générale des voyages, ou Nouvelle collection de toutes les relations de voyages par mer et par terre, qui ont été publiées:jusqu'à présent dans les différentes langues de toutes les nations connues'' ; (in collaboration with

, Étienne-Maurice Chompré and

Jacques-Nicolas Bellin Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703 – 21 March 1772) was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes. Bellin was born in Paris. He was hydrographer of France's hydrographic office, member of t ...

, 1746–1789). *1777: ''Eloge de M. Roux, docteur régent et professeur de chimie à la Faculté de Paris. Amsterdam. *1791: ''Essai sur la vie et les ouvrages de

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Bibliography

* Frank A. Kafker, Jeff Loveland: ''Antoine-Claude Briasson et l'Encyclopédie'', ''Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie'', n° 35
(online
* Frank A. Kafker: ''Les Ventes de l'Encyclopédie.'' In: ''Sciences, musiques, Lumières.'' Ferney, Centre international d'étude du XVIIIe siècle, 2002. * Joachim Lebreton: ''Notice sur Deleyre (extraite des Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences morales).'' (1797) In: Friedrich Melchior Grimm: ''Correspondance littéraire.'' * George Streckeisen-Moultou: ''J. J. Rousseau. Ses amis et ses ennemis.]'' (186?)

Biography

Main works

Bibliography

References

External links