Étienne-François Turgot, last Lord of
Brucourt
Brucourt () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regio ...
, marquis of
Soumont, (16 June 1721, Paris – 21 October 1789, Paris) was an 18th-century French naturalist, knight of
Malta and governor of
French Guiana.
His knowledge of natural history, surgery, medicine and agriculture made him a free correspondent of the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...
. He was a
contributor
Contributor may refer to:
* Author, the originator of any written work which is contributed to a publication
** Freelance writer, an author working as an independent contractor for a publication
*** Contributor network, a freelance writing arrangem ...
to the ''
Encyclopédie''.
Biography
His father was
Michel-Étienne Turgot
Michel-Étienne Turgot (; ; 9 June 1690, Paris – 1 February 1751, Paris) was ''prévôt des marchands de Paris'' ("Master of the merchants of Paris", i.e. Mayor of Paris) from 1729 to 1740. His name is associated with one of the most famous m ...
(1690–1751), prévôt des marchands de Paris ("Master of the merchants of Paris", i.e. Mayor of Paris) and his younger brother the famous
Anne Robert Jacques Turgot.
Turgot was admitted to the
Order of the Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (now the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta) as a young man. As a knight of Malta, he commanded one of the Order's Mediterranean galleys. In the 1740s, he fought for
Maurice de Saxe in Bohemia and Flanders during the
War of the Austrian Succession.
He returned to France in 1764 and was appointed brigadier of the king's armies. He established the
Académie d'Agriculture in 1760 and was received free associate of the Académie des sciences in 1762.
King
Louis XV appointed him governor of Guyana but the colonizing expedition conducted in 1763 at the request of
Étienne François de Choiseul
Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne.
Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to:
People
Scientists and inventors
...
, poorly prepared, was a resounding failure. Similarly, because of power struggles, accused of embezzlement, Turgot ended up being the subject of a
lettre de cachet.
After his detention, he took no responsibility and devoted himself to study. A gout attack - disease shared with his father and brothers - won 21 October 1789.
Works
* Contribution to the article ''Coton'' of the ''
Encyclopédie'', 1754, vol. 4, .
* ''Mémoire instructif sur la manière de rassembler, de préparer, de conserver et d'envoyer les diverses curiosités d'histoire naturelle'' ; auquel on a joint un mémoire intitulé : ''Avis pour le transport par mer, des arbres, des plantes vivaces, des semences, & de diverses autres curiosités d'histoire naturelle'', Paris, Jean Marie Bruyset, bookseller, rue Merciere, au Soleil d'or, 1758
Read online
* ''Observations sur l'espèce de résine élastique de l'île de France''.
* He provided a few texts to
Jean-Louis Giraud-Soulavie for the parts of his ''Mémoires historiques sur le règne de Louis XVI'' devoted to the history of his
brother's ministry.
References
External links
Notice d'autorité SUDOC
* Marion F. Godfroy-Tayart de Borms, ''Kourou ou l'ultime combat de la monarchie pour une Amérique française : étude d'une expédition coloniale : 1763-1781'', EHESS, June 2009.
* Notice dans ''Dictionnaire universel, historique, critique et bibliographique'', imprimerie de Mame, 1812, vol. 17
(p. 354–355)
*
Joseph-Marie Quérard
Joseph Marie Quérard (25 December 1797 – 3 December 1865) was a French bibliographer.
He was born at Rennes, where he was apprenticed to a bookseller. Sent abroad on business, he remained in Vienna from 1819 to 1824, where he drew up the fi ...
, ''La France littéraire'', Daguin frères, 1838, vol. 9
(p. 579)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turgot, Etienne-Francois
Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)
French naturalists
Scientists from Paris
People imprisoned by lettre de cachet
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
1721 births
1789 deaths