Nicolas-Philippe Ledru (1731,

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. S ...

– October 6, 1807,

Fontenay-aux-Roses Fontenay-aux-Roses () is a Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. In 1880 a girls school École Normale Supérieure was opened in the town. It was one of ...

), known as Comus, was a noted European

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

prestidigitator Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card f ...

and

illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...

of the late 18th century. He had two sons, Jacques Philippe Ledru (1754–1832), a member of the French

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

and a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Fontenay-aux-Roses, and Jacques Auguste Ledru, an inspector of pawn-shops. The latter is the father of

Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin (; 2 February 1807 – 31 December 1874) was a French lawyer, politician and one of the leaders of the French Revolution of 1848. Youth The grandson of Nicolas Philippe Ledru, the celebrated quack doctor known ...

, a lawyer and a French politician. Nicolas-Philippe Ledru styled himself

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; grc, Κῶμος, ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Dionysus. He was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr and represents ana ...

after the Greek god of mirth and revelry, and entertained royalty, aristocrats, and the general public with his scientific experiments. He traveled extensively throughout Europe demonstrating his tricks and acquired a huge reputation. He had an office in Paris where he performed various experiments for the public on

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...

, incompressibility of water and so on. At his office he also introduced tricks of

illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may o ...

, such as a female

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

getting dressed when asked, a small face with eyes taking on the color of the pupil of the one who looked at it, an artificial hand writing thoughts of a spectator, a "

siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

" answering questions and so on. Comus occasionally introduced his tricks at the court of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

, and in May 1777 he gave a performance in Paris for

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

.''Journal de Paris'', 3 juin 1777''Journal de physique'', janvier 1778, pp. 49-56.
Apart from demonstrating magic acts, he devised a new system for nautical maps and ''an application of electricity for therapeutic purposes for illness of the nervous system'' or, simply, epilepsy.

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

, who appointed him his physician, gave him the title ''Professeur de Physique des Enfants de France''. Louis XVI authorized him to practice at his new hospice ''Médico-Électrique''. Comus was imprisoned during the Terror but survived the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

. He died in 1807 a wealthy man. His fortune ultimately descended to his grandson Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin.

References

Sources

''La feuille nécessaire'', 9 juillet 1759, p. 346.

''L'Avantcoureur'', 2 février 1761, p. 68.1 février 1762, p. 75.

Lettre de Diderot à Sophie Voland du 28 juillet 1762.

''L'Avantcoureur'', 8 avril 1765.

''Lettre et regrets de souscription d'une jeune provinciale à une de ses amies à Paris , sur l'ouvrage intitulé : Récréations physiques et mathématiques du sieur Guyot'', 1769, p. 8.

''Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique'', janvier 1770, pp. 444-5.

''Almanach forain'', 1773.

Claude-Adrien Helvétius, ''De l’homme, de ses facultés intellectuelles & de son éducation'', Londres 1776, p. 173.
* ''

Journal de Paris The ''Journal de Paris'' (1777–1840) was the first daily French newspaper.(7 October 2014)The first French daily: Journal de Paris History of JournalismAndrews, ElizabethBetween Auteurs and Abonnés: Reading the Journal de Paris, 1787–1789 '' ...

''
21 avril 17772 mai 177719 avril 177818 juin 17782 juillet 177815 aout 177831 aout 17788 septembre 177813 septembre 17784 avril 17799 mai 177923 mai 17793 juin 177927 juin 177928 juin 177929 juin 177926 mars 178016 juin 1782.

Louis Sébastien Mercier, ''Tableau de Paris'', vol. 2, chez Virchaux & Compagnie, Paris 1782, p. 29.

Nicolas Philippe Ledru "Comus", ''Rapport sur les avantages reconnus de la nouvelle méthode d'administrer l'électricité dans les maladies nerveuses'', Philippe-Denys Pierres, Paris 1783.

Louis Petit de Bachaumont, ''Mémoires secrets pour servir à l'histoire de la république des lettres en France'', Vol. XXV, 9 avril 1784, p. 219.

''La Gazette Noire'' (1784), p. 219.

Jean Chrétien Ferdinand Hoefer, ''Nouvelle biographie générale'', Vol. 30, 1853, p. 143.

Charles Lefeuve, ''Les anciennes maisons de Paris. Histoire de Paris rue par rue, maison par maison'', Tome 3, C. Reinwald, Paris 1875, p. 447.

Thomas Frost, ''The Lives of the Conjurors'', Tinsley Brothers, London 1876, p. 120.
* Calman, Alvin Rosenblatt. ''Ledru-Rollin and the Second French Republic''. New York: Columbia University, 1922. On-line text a
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledru, Nicolas-Philippe 1731 births 1807 deaths Scientists from Paris French magicians 18th-century French scientists