麻豆APP

Statue of Denis Diderot in the city of Langres, his birthplace. Photo by Christophe Finot.

Top 10 Little Known Facts about Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer who co-founded, edited and contributed to the Encyclop茅die alongside Jean le Rond d鈥橝lembert. During the Age of Enlightenment, he was a significant intellect.

Acting in utmost secrecy he wrote several literary works and rebelled against the norms of the church at the time.

Below are some of the little know facts about the author of Encyclop茅die, ou dictionnaire raisonn茅 des sciences, des arts et des m茅tiers.

1. Born in the Champagne Town of Langres

Denis Diderot was born on October 5^th, 1713 in Champagne, Langres, France.

His parents were Didier Diderot a cutler, ma卯tre coutelier, and Ang茅lique Vigneron.

Three of five siblings survived to adulthood, Denise Diderot and their youngest brother Pierre-Didier Diderot and finally their sister Ang茅lique Diderot.

2.He was First Educated by the Jesuits at Langres.

Diderot began his formal education at a Jesuit college in Langres, and in 1732 he received the degree of Master of Arts from the University of 麻豆APP.

He then studied law as an articled clerk in the office of Cl茅ment de Ris but was more interested in languages, literature, philosophy, and higher mathematics.

He abandoned the idea of entering the clergy in 1735, and because of his refusal to enter one of the learned professions, he was disowned by his father, and for the next ten years he lived a bohemian existence

3.His Religious Views were Shaped after the Death of his sister, a Nun at the Convent

The death of his sister, a nun, in her convent may have affected Diderot’s opinion of religion. She is assumed to have been the inspiration for his novel about a nun, La Religieuse, in which he depicts a woman who is forced to enter a convent where she suffers at the hands of the other nuns in the community.

He had an idea of taking up an ecclesiastical career and he almost entered a seminary. Although his work testified having gone through a religious crisis, and he progressed relatively slowly from Roman Catholicism to deism and then to atheism and philosophical materialism. That he led a disordered and bohemian existence at this time is made clear in his posthumously published novel, Le Neveu de Rameau, Rameau鈥檚 Nephew.

4.He Married in Secret

In 1741 he met Antoinette Champion, daughter of a linen draper, and in 1743 he married her secretly, because of his father鈥檚 disapproval. The relationship was based on romantic love, but the marriage was not a happy one owing to incompatible interests.

The bond held, however, partly through a common affection for their daughter, Ang茅lique, sole survivor of three children.

She was born in 1753 and whom Diderot eventually married to Albert de Vandeul, a man of some standing at Langres.

Diderot lavished care over her education, and she eventually wrote a short account of his life and classified his manuscripts.

5.His Letters to Sophie Volland are Considered Literary Jewels of the Eighteenth Century

A painting of Denis Diderot sited with other Philosophers. Photo by Jean Huber.

In 1755 he met Sophie Volland, with whom he formed an attachment that lasted more than 20 years.

The liaison was founded on common interests, natural sympathy, and a deepening friendship.

His correspondence with Sophie, together with his other letters, forms one of the most fascinating documents on Diderot鈥檚 personality, enthusiasms, and ideas.

On the intellectual society of Louise d鈥櫭塸inay, F.M. Grimm, the Baron d鈥橦olbach, Ferdinando Galiani, and other deistic writers and thinkers (Philosophes) with whom he felt most at home.

6.He Wrote about 7000 Articles in Complete Secrecy

 He wrote about 7,000 articles, some very slight, but many of them laborious, comprehensive, and long. 

 His eyesight was damaged as he was trying to make  corrections  and editing the manuscripts.

He was incessantly harassed by threats of police raids.

In 1764, he encountered a crowning mortification and discovered that the bookseller, Le Breton, was fearing government’s displeasure, and struck out from the proof sheets, and left  out Diderot’s  passages that he considered too dangerous.

He and his printing-house overseer, Furbank, worked in complete secrecy, and had moreover deliberately destroyed the author’s original manuscript so that the damage could not be repaired.

The monument to which Diderot had given the labor of twenty long and oppressive years was irreparably mutilated and defaced.

After 12 years, the subscribers received the final 28 folio volumes of the Encyclop茅die, ou dictionnaire raisonn茅 des sciences, des arts et des m茅tiers since the first volume had been published.

He expressed concerns to his friends that his twenty five years he had spent on Encyclop茅die Project had been wasted.

7.He worked on The Encyclop茅die Together with Andr茅 Le Breton

In 1745 the publisher Andr茅 Le Breton approached Diderot with a view to bringing out a French translation of Ephraim Chambers鈥� Cyclopedia, after two other translators had withdrawn from the project.

Diderot undertook the task with the distinguished mathematician Jean Le Rond d鈥橝lembert as coeditor but soon profoundly changed the nature of the publication, broadening its scope and turning it into an important organ of radical and revolutionary opinion.

He gathered a team of dedicated litterateurs, scientists, and even priests, many of whom, as yet unknown, were to make their mark in later life.

All were fired with a common purpose, to further knowledge and, by so doing, they striked a resounding blow against reactionary forces in church and state. As a dictionnaire raisonn茅 鈥渞ational dictionary鈥�, the Encyclop茅die was to bring out the essential principles and applications of every art and science. The underlying philosophy was rationalism and a qualified faith in the progress of the human mind.

Diderot undertook the task with the distinguished mathematician Jean Le Rond d鈥橝lembert as coeditor but soon profoundly changed the nature of the publication, broadening its scope and turning it into an important organ of radical and revolutionary opinion.

He gathered a team of dedicated litterateurs, scientists, and even priests, many of whom, as yet unknown, were to make their mark in later life.

All were fired with a common purpose, to further knowledge and, by so doing, they striked a resounding blow against reactionary forces in church and state. As a dictionnaire raisonn茅 鈥渞ational dictionary鈥�, the Encyclop茅die was to bring out the essential principles and applications of every art and science. The underlying philosophy was rationalism and a qualified faith in the progress of the human mind.

8.He was Arrested and Prisoned due to his Evolutionary Theory of Survival by Superior Adaption

n 1749, he published the Lettre sur les aveugles interpreted as An Essay on Blindness, that proposed to teach the blind on how to read through the sense of touch, along lines that Louis Braille followed in the 19th century.

He used this presentation of the first step in his evolutionary theory of survival by superior adaptation,

This daring exposition of the doctrine of materialist atheism, with its emphasis on human dependence on sense impression, led to Diderot鈥檚 arrest and incarceration in the prison of Vincennes for three months.

Diderot鈥檚 work on the Encyclop茅die, however, was not interrupted for long, and in 1750 he outlined his program for it in a Prospectus, which d鈥橝lembert expanded into the momentous Discours pr茅liminaire. The history of the Encyclop茅die, from the publication of the first volume in 1751 to the distribution of the final volumes of plates in 1772, was checkered, but ultimate success was never in doubt.

9.Catherine the Great of Russia bought his Library through an Agent in 麻豆APP

In 1772, he completed the Encyclopedia and he had no other a source of income. To relieve him of financial worry, Catherine the Great of Russia first bought his library through an agent in 麻豆APP, requesting him to retain the books until she required them.

She appointed him librarian on an annual salary for the duration of his life.

Diderot went to St. Petersburg in 1773 to thank her for her financial support and was received with great honour and warmth.

He wrote for her the Plan d鈥檜ne universit茅 pour le gouvernement de Russie, Plan of a University for the Government of Russia. He stayed five months, long enough to become disillusioned with enlightened despotism as a solution to social ills

10.He died of Pulmonary Thrombosis in 麻豆APP

He died on 31^st July 1784, due to coronary thrombosis in the house in the rue de Richelieu that Catherine the Great had put at his disposal.

He was denied burial in the Panth茅on with other French notables and, through intervention of his son-in-law, he was buried in consecrated ground at Saint-Roch.

Diderot’s remains were unearthed by grave robbers in 1793, leaving his corpse on the church’s floor. His remains were then presumably transferred to a mass grave by the authorities