French Encyclopédistes
Overview
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
who compiled and wrote the Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
, edited by Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
and Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...
. More than a hundred encyclopédistes have been identified. Many were part of the intellectual group known as the philosophe
Philosophe
The philosophes were the intellectuals of the 18th century Enlightenment. Few were primarily philosophers; rather they were public intellectuals who applied reason to the study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics and social issues...
s. They promoted the advancement of science and secular thought and supported tolerance, rationality, and open-mindedness of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
. Still, as Frank Kafker has shown, the encyclopédistes were not a unified group, neither in ideology nor social class.
Below some of the contributors are listed in alphabetical order, by the number of articles that they wrote, and by the identifying "signature" by which their contributions were identified in the Encyclopédie.
- Jean Le Rond d'AlembertJean le Rond d'AlembertJean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...
- Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville
- Boucher d'Argis
- Arnulphe d'Aumont
- Jacques-Nicolas BellinJacques-Nicolas BellinJacques Nicolas Bellin was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes....
- Jacques-François BlondelJacques-François BlondelJacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
- Claude BourgelatClaude BourgelatClaude Bourgelat was a French veterinary surgeon.Bourgelat was born at Lyon. He was the founder of veterinary colleges at Lyon in 1762, as well as an authority on horse management, and often consulted on the matter...
- Louis-Jean-Marie DaubentonLouis-Jean-Marie DaubentonLouis-Jean-Marie Daubenton was a French naturalist.Daubenton was born at Montbard . His father, Jean Daubenton, a notary, intended him for the church, and sent him to Paris to study theology, but Louis-Jean-Marie was more interested in medicine...
- Denis DiderotDenis DiderotDenis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
- César Chesneau Du Marsais
- Marc-Antoine EidousMarc-Antoine EidousMarc-Antoine Eidous was a French writer, translator and Encyclopedist born in Marseilles.His translations included works on the subjects of philosophy, travel and agriculture by English and Scottish authors:...
- Jean-Baptiste de La ChapelleJean-Baptiste de La ChapelleJean-Baptiste de La Chapelle was a French priest, mathematician and inventor.He contributed 270 articles to the Encyclopédie in the subjects of arithmetic and geometry...
- Guillaume Le Blond
- André Le BretonAndré Le BretonAndré François le Breton was a French publisher. He was one of the four publishers of the Encyclopédie of Diderot and d'Alembert, along with Michel-Antoine David, Laurent Durand, and Antoine-Claude Briasson...
- Antoine LouisAntoine LouisAntoine Louis was a French surgeon and physiologist who was born in Metz.He was originally trained in medicine by his father, a surgeon-major at a local military hospital. As a young man he moved to Paris, where he served as gagnant-maîtrise at the Salpêtrière...
- Baron d'HolbachBaron d'HolbachPaul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach was a French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist and a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon...
- Chevalier Louis de JaucourtLouis de JaucourtChevalier Louis de Jaucourt was a French scholar and the most prolific contributor to the Encyclopédie. He wrote about 18,000 articles on subjects including physiology, chemistry, botany, pathology, and political history, or about 25% of the entire encyclopedia, all done voluntarily...
- Edme-François Mallet
- Jean-François MarmontelJean-François MarmontelJean-François Marmontel was a French historian and writer, a member of the Encyclopediste movement.-Biography:He was born of poor parents at Bort, Limousin...
- Charles de Secondat, Baron de MontesquieuCharles de Secondat, baron de MontesquieuCharles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu , generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment...
- Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
- Pierre TarinPierre TarinPierre Tarin was a French doctor and a writer, translator, born in Courtenay. He is best known for his contributions to Encyclopédie by Diderot and D'Alembert.- Publications :...
- François-Vincent ToussaintFrançois-Vincent ToussaintFrançois-Vincent Toussaint was a French writer most famous for Les Mœurs . The book was published in 1748 and was soon prosecuted and burned by the French court of justice....
- Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de LauneAnne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de LauneAnne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune , often referred to as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Turgot was a student of Francois Quesnay and as such belonged to the Physiocratic school of economic thought...
- Urbain de Vandenesse
- Gabriel-François Venel
- VoltaireVoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
- Abbé Claude YvonClaude YvonThe Abbé Claude Yvon was a French encyclopédiste, a savant who contributed to the Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.-Early career:...
- 37870 - XXX (unsigned or undetermined)
- 17288 - Chevalier Louis de JaucourtLouis de JaucourtChevalier Louis de Jaucourt was a French scholar and the most prolific contributor to the Encyclopédie. He wrote about 18,000 articles on subjects including physiology, chemistry, botany, pathology, and political history, or about 25% of the entire encyclopedia, all done voluntarily...
- 5394 - Denis DiderotDenis DiderotDenis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
- 4268 - Boucher d'Argis
- 1925 - Edme-François Mallet
- 1309 - Jean Le Rond d'AlembertJean le Rond d'AlembertJean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...
- 994 - Jacques-Nicolas BellinJacques-Nicolas BellinJacques Nicolas Bellin was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes....
- 720 - Guillaume Le Blond
- 707 - Gabriel-François Venel
- 693 - Louis-Jean-Marie DaubentonLouis-Jean-Marie DaubentonLouis-Jean-Marie Daubenton was a French naturalist.Daubenton was born at Montbard . His father, Jean Daubenton, a notary, intended him for the church, and sent him to Paris to study theology, but Louis-Jean-Marie was more interested in medicine...
- 541 - Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville
- 482 - Jacques-François BlondelJacques-François BlondelJacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
- 449 - Antoine LouisAntoine LouisAntoine Louis was a French surgeon and physiologist who was born in Metz.He was originally trained in medicine by his father, a surgeon-major at a local military hospital. As a young man he moved to Paris, where he served as gagnant-maîtrise at the Salpêtrière...
- 428 - Marc-Antoine EidousMarc-Antoine EidousMarc-Antoine Eidous was a French writer, translator and Encyclopedist born in Marseilles.His translations included works on the subjects of philosophy, travel and agriculture by English and Scottish authors:...
- 414 - Baron d'HolbachBaron d'HolbachPaul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach was a French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist and a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon...
- 388 - François-Vincent ToussaintFrançois-Vincent ToussaintFrançois-Vincent Toussaint was a French writer most famous for Les Mœurs . The book was published in 1748 and was soon prosecuted and burned by the French court of justice....
- 344 - Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
- 337 - Pierre TarinPierre TarinPierre Tarin was a French doctor and a writer, translator, born in Courtenay. He is best known for his contributions to Encyclopédie by Diderot and D'Alembert.- Publications :...
- 227 - Claude BourgelatClaude BourgelatClaude Bourgelat was a French veterinary surgeon.Bourgelat was born at Lyon. He was the founder of veterinary colleges at Lyon in 1762, as well as an authority on horse management, and often consulted on the matter...
- 214 - Jean-Baptiste de La ChapelleJean-Baptiste de La ChapelleJean-Baptiste de La Chapelle was a French priest, mathematician and inventor.He contributed 270 articles to the Encyclopédie in the subjects of arithmetic and geometry...
- 199 - Urbain de Vandenesse
- 192 - Arnulphe d'Aumont
- 129 - César Chesneau Du Marsais
- 119 - Cahusac
- 108 - Le Roy
- 107 - Landois
- 91 - Beauzée
- 78 - Malouin
- 61 - Louis-Jacques GoussierLouis-Jacques GoussierLouis-Jacques Goussier was a French illustrator and encyclopedist.- Career :Born poor, he first studies mathematics at Pierre-André Leguay de Prémontval free school, and then becomes a teacher himself. The school closes in 1744 and Goussier starts an illustrator career...
, also supervisor of the engraved plates - 56 - Malouin
- 45 - Lenglet Du Fresnoy
- 41 - Daubenton|Diderot
- 39 - Claude YvonClaude YvonThe Abbé Claude Yvon was a French encyclopédiste, a savant who contributed to the Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.-Early career:...
- 39 - Daubenton|Vandenesse
- 32 - Boucher d'Argis
- 26 - de La Chapelle|d'Alembert
- 26 - Voltaire
- 25 - Diderot|Mallet
- 23 - Daubenton|Jaucourt
- 22 - Daubenton, le Subdelegue
- 21 - Barths
- 20 - Mallet|Diderot
- 20 - Formey
- 20 - Daubenton|Jaucourt
- 14 - Rousseau|d'Alembert
- 14 - Beauzee
- 13 - Watelet
- 13 - Boucher d'Argis
- 12 - Romain
- 12 - Douchet et Beauzee
- 12 - Daubenton|d'Argenville
- 11 - Diderot|Vandenesse
- 10 - Villiers
- 10 - MarmontelJean-François MarmontelJean-François Marmontel was a French historian and writer, a member of the Encyclopediste movement.-Biography:He was born of poor parents at Bort, Limousin...
- 10 - Forbonnais
- 9 - Papillon
- 9 - Mallet|d'Alembert
- 9 - Daubenton|Daubenton, le Subdelegue
- 8 - Faiguet
- 7 - d'Argenville|Diderot
- 7 - Tarin
- 7 - Pestr
- 7 - Jaucourt
- 7 - Bellin|Bellin
- 6 - Vandenesse|Diderot
- 6 - Toussaint|Mallet
- 6 - Durival
- 6 - Beauzee et Duchet
- 5 - d'Aubenton
- 5 - d'Alembert|Diderot
- 5 - YvonClaude YvonThe Abbé Claude Yvon was a French encyclopédiste, a savant who contributed to the Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.-Early career:...
|Diderot - 5 - Venel|Venel
- 5 - Menuret
- 5 - Mallet|Mallet
- 5 - Diderot|Daubenton
- 5 - Daubenton|d'Argenville|Vandenesse
- 5 - Daubenton|Vandenesse|Diderot
- 5 - C.
