Jean Romilly (27 June 1714 – 16 February 1796) was an 18th-century

Genevan Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

watchmaker, journalist and encyclopédiste. Born in a family which took refuge in Geneva following the

Edict of Fontainebleau The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

, Romilly became known by various improvements he made to his art. He realized, among other remarkable works, a watch that could go a whole year without being winded, but he left

Ferdinand Berthoud Ferdinand Berthoud (born 18 March 1727, in Plancemont-sur-Couvet, Principality of Neuchâtel; died 20 June 1807, in Groslay, Val d'Oise), was a scientist and watchmaker. He became master watchmaker in Paris in 1753. Berthoud, who held the posi ...

the honor to give his invention the required degree of accuracy. Romilly was one of the founders of the ''

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 '' ...

'' in 1777, and an editor of 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 ...

'' by Diderot and d’Alembert, to which he contributed articles on the theoretical part of

watchmaking A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

. His son, theologian

Jean-Edme Romilly Jean-Edme Romilly (1739 or 1740 in Geneva – 29 October 1779) was an 18th-century Genevan theologian and encyclopédiste. Biography The son of the watchmaker, journalist and encyclopedist Jean Romilly, whom he predeceased, his mother was Eli ...

also collaborated with the ''Encyclopédie''. His daughter, Jeanne, was general Cavaignac's grandmother.

Sources

* E. Haag, ''La France protestante'', t. 8, Paris, Joël Cherbuliez, 1858, (p. 513). * G. H. Baillie: ''Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World.'' (1929) Reprint Read Books, 2006, . * Kathleen H. Pritchard: ''Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775 – 1975.'' Phoenix-Verlag, USA. . * R.A. Leigh (Ed.): ''Correspondance complète de Jean-Jacques Rousseau.'' 52 vol. 1965–1998.

External links

List of Romilly's contributions to the Encyclopédie
on Wikidource
Jean Romilly
o
Dictionnaire des journalistes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romilly, Jean 1714 births 18th-century writers from the Republic of Geneva 1796 deaths Clockmakers from the Republic of Geneva Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) Male journalists 18th-century French male writers