Constantin François de Chassebœuf,

comte ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * A count in French, from Latin ''comes'' * A ...

de Volney (3 February 175725 April 1820) was a French

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, abolitionist, writer, orientalist, and politician. He was at first surnamed ''Boisgirais'' after his father's estate, but afterwards assumed the name of ''Volney'' (which he had created as a

contraction Contraction may refer to: Linguistics * Contraction (grammar), a shortened word * Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons * Elision, omission of sounds ** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word * Synalepha, merged ...

of ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Ferney Ferney-Voltaire () is a Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of eastern France. It lies between the Jura Mountains and the France–Switzerland border, Sw ...

'').

Life

Early life and the French Revolution

Volney was born at Craon,

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...

(today in

Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ill ...

), of a noble family. Initially interested in law and medicine, he went on to study

classical language A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the ...

s at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, and his ''Mémoire sur la Chronologie d'Hérodote'' (on

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

) rose to the attention of the

Académie des Inscriptions An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

and of the group around

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 ...

. Soon after, he befriended

Pierre Jean George Cabanis Pierre Jean Georges Cabanis (; 5 June 1757 – 5 May 1808) was a French physiologist, freemason and materialist philosopher. Life Cabanis was born at Cosnac (Corrèze), the son of Jean Baptiste Cabanis (1723–1786), a lawyer and agronomist. ...

, the Marquis de Condorcet, the Baron d'Holbach, and

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. He embarked on a journey to the East in late 1782 and reached Egypt, where he spent nearly seven months. He then lived for nearly two years in Greater Syria, in what today is

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and Israel/Palestine, in order to learn

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. In 1785 he returned to France, where he spent the next two years compiling his notes and writing his ''Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie'' (1787) and ''Considérations sur la guerre des Turcs et de la Russie'' (1788). He was a member both of the Estates-General and of the National Constituent Assembly after the outbreak of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. In 1791 his essay on the philosophy of history appeared, ''Les Ruines, ou méditations sur les révolutions des empires''. It conveys a vision predicting the union of all religions through the recognition of the common truths underlying them all. Volney tried to put his politico-economic theories into practice in Corsica, where in 1792 he bought an estate and made an attempt to cultivate colonial produce. He was imprisoned during the Jacobin Club triumph, but escaped 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 t ...

. He spent some time as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of history at the newly founded ''École Normale''. Volney was a

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

Later life

In 1795 he undertook a journey to the United States, where he was accused (1797) by

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

' administration of being a French

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

sent to prepare for the reoccupation of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

by France and then to the West Indies. Consequently, he returned to France. The results of his travels took form in his ''Tableau du climat et du sol des États-Unis'' (1803). He was not a partisan of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, but, being a moderate

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, was impressed into service by the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...

, and Napoleon made him a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

and put him into the senate. After the Bourbon Restoration he was made a Peer of France, upon recognition of his hostility towards the Empire. Chassebœuf became a member of the Académie française in 1795. In his later years he helped to found oriental studies in France, learning

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

from the British linguist Alexander Hamilton, whom he had helped to protect during the Napoleonic era. He died in Paris and was buried at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

Thomas Jefferson's translation of Volney's ''Ruins of Empires''

English translations of Volney's ''Ruins'' began appearing within a year or so of its first French edition but sometime during Volney's stay in the United States, he and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

entered into a secret arrangement whereby Jefferson agreed to make a new English translation of the work. Volney visited

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

for two weeks during June 1796. The two men also met on several occasions at the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, of which Volney had been made a member in 1797. Jefferson was President of APS at the time and sponsored Volney's induction into the organization. These meetings provided the two men with ample opportunity to conceive and discuss the

translation project A translation project is a project that deals with the activity of translating. From a technical point of view, a translation project is closely related to the project management of the translation process. But, from an intercultural point of vi ...

. Jefferson, then serving as

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

under

, appreciated the book's central theme – that empires rise if government allows

enlightened self-interest Enlightened self-interest is a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest. It has often been ...

to flourish. This theme, Jefferson believed, represented an excellent summary of the Enlightenment-based principles upon which the U.S. was founded. However, Jefferson insisted that his translation be published only for certain readers, due to the book's controversial religious content. Jefferson was preparing to make a bid for the Presidency of the United States in 1800; he was worried his Federalist opponents would attack him as an atheist, if it were known he translated Volney's supposedly heretical book. According to the evidence discovered by the French researcher

Gilbert Chinard Gilbert Chinard (1881–1972) was a French-American historian, professor emeritus, who authored over 40 books. Born on October 17, 1881 in Chatellerault, France, to Hilaire and Marie (Blanchard) Chinard, educated at the Universities of Poiti ...

(1881-1972), Jefferson translated the invocation plus the first 20 chapters of the 1802 Paris edition of Volney's ''Ruins''. These first 20 chapters represent a review of human history from the point of view of a post-Enlightenment philosopher. Presumably, Jefferson then became too occupied with the 1800 Presidential campaign and didn't have time to finish the last four chapters of the book. In these chapters Volney describes "General Assembly of Nations," a fictionalized world convention wherein each religion defends its version of "the truth" according to its particular holy book. Since no religion is able to scientifically "prove" its most basic assertions, Volney concludes the book with a call for an absolute

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

From this we conclude, that, to live in harmony and peace…we must trace a line of distinction between those (assertions) that are capable of verification, and those that are not; (we must) separate by an inviolable barrier the world of fantastical beings from the world of realities…

Since Jefferson did not have time to complete the

, the last four chapters were translated by

Joel Barlow Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, and diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator Wil ...

, an American land speculator and poet living in Paris. Barlow's name then became associated with the entire translation, further obscuring Jefferson's role in the project.

Christ myth theory

Volney and

Charles-François Dupuis Charles François Dupuis (26 October 174229 September 1809) was a French savant, a professor (from 1766) of rhetoric at the Collège de Lisieux, Paris, who studied for the law in his spare time and was received as ''avocat'' in 1770. He also ven ...

were the first modern writers to advocate the

Christ myth theory The Christ myth theory, also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory, is the view that "the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology", possessing no "substantial claims to historical fact". Alternative ...

, the view that

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

had no historical existence. Volney and Dupuis argued that Christianity was an amalgamation of various ancient

mythologies Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

and that Jesus was a mythical character. However, in his version of the Christ Myth theory, Volney allowed for an obscure historical figure whose life was integrated into a solar mythology.

Selected publications

*''Travels in Syria and Egypt, During the Years 1783, 1784, & 1785''
''Volume 1''''Volume 2''
1788)
''The Ruins: Or a Survey of the Revolutions of Empires''
(1796)
''New Researches on Ancient History''
(1819)
''The Ruins; Or, Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires: And The Law of Nature''
(1890)

Legacy

Volney, New York Volney is a town in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 5,926 at the 2010 census. The town was named after a French author, Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney, who toured the area in 1808. The Town of Vol ...

was named after him. *

Prix Volney The Prix Volney ( en, Volney Medal) is awarded by the Institute of France after proposition by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres to a work of comparative philology. The prize was founded by Constantin Volney in 1803 and was origin ...

was founded by Constantin Volney in 1803 and was originally a gold medal worth 1,200

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

. * The Volney Hotels in New York,

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 ...

and Saumur were named after him. *

Rue Volney ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bl ...

was named after him in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, Saumur and

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...

. * Boulevard Volney in Rennes,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and Laval,

. * Place Volney in Craon,

. * An

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Management of the

University of Angers The University of Angers (french: Université d'Angers; UA) is a public university in western France, with campuses in Angers, Cholet, and Saumur. It forms part of thAngers-Le Mans University Community History The University of Angers was init ...

bears his name. * Volney Lodge is a

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

created in

Laval (Mayenne) Laval () is a town in western France, about west-southwest of Paris, and the capital of the Mayenne department. Its inhabitants are called ''Lavallois''. The commune of Laval proper, without the metropolitan area, is the 7th most populous in ...

References

External links

* * *
The Ruins; or, Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires, and the Law of Nature of Nature
', an English edition republished in 1920, PDF format
Volney's Travels through Syria and Egypt, using the 'short s'
This version of the text does not use the

long s The long s , also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaism, archaic form of the lowercase letter . It replaced the single ''s'', or one or both of the letters ''s'' in a 'double ''s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" ...

, and may be easier for contemporary readers to understand. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chasseboeuf, Constantin Francois 1757 births 1820 deaths 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers 19th-century French writers 19th-century French male writers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Christ myth theory proponents Counts of the First French Empire French abolitionists French deists French ethnologists French male writers French philosophers French travel writers Members of the Académie Française Members of the American Philosophical Society Peers of France People from Mayenne