Writers of the Enlightenment

The atlas holds 36 people and 671 moments here, from 1685 to 1815. The most recorded lives are Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Voltaire and Jane Austen.

Notable people

  1. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    from 1749 to 1815

    71 moments here

    German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, theatre director, and statesman. Born in Frankfurt, Goethe studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, practiced…

  2. Voltaire

    from 1694 to 1778

    51 moments here

    François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, dramatist, and philosopher.…

  3. Jane Austen

    from 1775 to 1815

    45 moments here

    English novelist Jane Austen spent her life in southern England, principally in Hampshire, Bath, Southampton, Chawton, and Winchester.…

  4. George Washington

    from 1732 to 1799

    44 moments here

    George Washington was a Virginia surveyor, planter, military commander, revolutionary leader, constitutional statesman, and the first president of…

  5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    from 1712 to 1778

    39 moments here

    Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…

  6. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

    from 1687 to 1716

    35 moments here

    German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…

  7. John Adams

    from 1735 to 1801

    32 moments here

    American lawyer, revolutionary leader, diplomat, first vice president of the United States, and second U.S. president.…

  8. Friedrich Schiller

    from 1759 to 1805

    30 moments here

    Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, philosopher, historian, and a central figure of Weimar Classicism.…

  9. Montesquieu

    from 1689 to 1755

    29 moments here

    Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French jurist, historian, and political philosopher.…

  10. Benjamin Franklin

    from 1706 to 1790

    28 moments here

    American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…

  11. Thomas Jefferson

    from 1743 to 1801

    27 moments here

    Thomas Jefferson was an American lawyer, Virginia political leader, diplomat, secretary of state, vice president, and third president of the United…

  12. Lord Byron

    from 1788 to 1815

    26 moments here

    George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1788–1824), was a British poet, peer, and political speaker.…

  13. Adam Smith

    from 1723 to 1790

    25 moments here

    Scottish moral philosopher and political economist of the Scottish Enlightenment, author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the…

  14. James Madison

    from 1751 to 1814

    25 moments here

    James Madison (1751–1836) was a Virginia planter, revolutionary politician, delegate to the Continental and Confederation congresses, architect of…

  15. Arthur Schopenhauer

    from 1788 to 1814

    19 moments here

    German philosopher and writer, born in Danzig and dead in Frankfurt am Main. His documented movements included childhood residences in Hamburg and Le…

  16. Leonhard Euler

    from 1707 to 1783

    18 moments here

    Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, engineer, and polymath. Euler’s documented life moved from Basel and nearby Riehen to Saint Petersburg,…

  17. Jonathan Swift

    from 1688 to 1745

    18 moments here

    Anglo-Irish writer, satirist, political pamphleteer, and Church of Ireland cleric, best known for Gulliver's Travels, A Tale of a Tub, and A Modest…

  18. Carl Friedrich Gauss

    from 1777 to 1810

    17 moments here

    German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist. Gauss was born in Brunswick, studied there and at Göttingen, worked privately in…

  19. Daniel Defoe

    from 1685 to 1731

    16 moments here

    English merchant, political writer, journalist, intelligence agent, and novelist. This chronology records documented physical presences from his…

  20. Immanuel Kant

    from 1724 to 1804

    15 moments here

    German Enlightenment philosopher whose critical philosophy transformed epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and political thought.…

  21. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

    from 1770 to 1808

    11 moments here

    German philosopher and a central figure of German idealism. His documented movements include formative study in Stuttgart and Tübingen; tutoring…

  22. Michael Faraday

    from 1791 to 1815

    11 moments here

    English chemist and physicist whose experimental work transformed the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.…

  23. Honoré de Balzac

    from 1799 to 1814

    7 moments here

    French novelist and playwright, born in Tours and dead in Paris. Balzac created La Comédie humaine, an interlinked fictional panorama of…

  24. John Locke

    from 1688 to 1704

    6 moments here

    English philosopher, physician, and political writer. Locke was born in Somerset, educated in London and Oxford, served Lord Shaftesbury in London,…

Moments

  1. 1687 Stay at Rheinfels Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  2. 1688 Hosted at Sulzbach Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  3. 1688 Residence in Rotterdam John Locke
  4. 1688 Arrival in Munich Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  5. 1688 Meeting at Graupen Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  6. 1688 Two weeks in Regensburg Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  7. 1688 Archival discovery in Augsburg Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  8. 1688 First extended Vienna stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  9. 1689 Residence at Dorset Court John Locke
  10. 1689 Return voyage with Princess Mary John Locke
  11. 1689 First Venice stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  12. 1689 Arrival in Rome Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  13. 1689 Second Rome stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  14. 1689 Visit to Naples Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  15. 1689 Florence visit Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  16. 1689 Bologna stop Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  17. 1689 Departure from Florence Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  18. 1690 Este archives at Modena Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  19. 1690 Este tombs at Vangadizza Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  20. 1690 Second Venice stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  21. 1690 Return visit to Vienna Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  22. 1690 Returns to Hanover from Italy Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  23. 1691 Wolfenbüttel library directorship Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  24. 1691 Settlement at Oates Manor John Locke
  25. 1694 Born in Paris Voltaire
  26. 1698 Extended periods in Berlin Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  27. 1700 Vienna church-union talks Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  28. 1702 Final visit to London John Locke
  29. 1702 Residence at Lützenburg and Berlin Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  30. 1704 Dresden scientific-society mission Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  31. 1704 Studies at Louis-le-Grand Voltaire
  32. 1704 Arrival at Lützenburg Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  33. 1704 Death at Oates Manor John Locke
  34. 1706 Birth on Milk Street Benjamin Franklin
  35. 1706 Berlin residence Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  36. 1707 Childhood in Riehen Leonhard Euler
  37. 1707 Baptism at St. Martin's Church Leonhard Euler
  38. 1707 Birth in Basel Leonhard Euler
  39. 1708 Vienna visit Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  40. 1709 Short return to Leipzig Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  41. 1711 Studies law in Caen Voltaire
  42. 1711 Final Berlin sojourn Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  43. 1711 Audience with Peter the Great at Torgau Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  44. 1712 Birth in Geneva Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  45. 1712 Audience with Peter the Great at Carlsbad Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  46. 1712 Final extended Vienna residence Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  47. 1713 Serves at The Hague Voltaire
  48. 1714 Returns to Hanover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  49. 1715 Latin-school pupil in Basel Leonhard Euler
  50. 1716 Meetings with Peter the Great at Bad Pyrmont Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

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