Paris in the Enlightenment
The atlas holds 15 people and 54 moments here, from 1693 to 1815. The most recorded lives are Voltaire, Montesquieu and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Notable people
Voltaire
from 1694 to 1778
10 moments here
François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, dramatist, and philosopher.…
Montesquieu
from 1709 to 1755
8 moments here
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French jurist, historian, and political philosopher.…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from 1742 to 1776
7 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
Benjamin Franklin
from 1767 to 1784
6 moments here
American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…
Napoleon Bonaparte
from 1799 to 1815
5 moments here
French military commander and statesman who rose during the French Revolution, became First Consul in 1799, and ruled as Emperor of the French in…
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
from 1763 to 1778
3 moments here
Austrian composer and performer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, Mozart toured Europe as a child prodigy, made three formative journeys to…
Simón Bolívar
from 1802 to 1806
3 moments here
Venezuelan military and political leader known as El Libertador. Bolívar led revolutionary campaigns that helped secure the independence of…
Thomas Jefferson
from 1784 to 1789
2 moments here
Thomas Jefferson was an American lawyer, Virginia political leader, diplomat, secretary of state, vice president, and third president of the United…
Adam Smith
from 1764 to 1766
2 moments here
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist of the Scottish Enlightenment, author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the…
Honoré de Balzac
from 1813 to 1814
2 moments here
French novelist and playwright, born in Tours and dead in Paris. Balzac created La Comédie humaine, an interlinked fictional panorama of…
Jean de La Fontaine
from 1693 to 1695
2 moments here
French fabulist, poet, dramatist, and author whose Fables became foundational works of French literature.…
Carl Linnaeus
in 1738
1 moment here
Swedish botanist, physician, and naturalist who formalized binomial nomenclature and devised an influential system for classifying organisms.…
John Adams
in 1783
1 moment here
American lawyer, revolutionary leader, diplomat, first vice president of the United States, and second U.S. president.…
Peter the Great
in 1717
1 moment here
Peter I of Russia, known as Peter the Great, was tsar from 1682 and emperor from 1721 until 1725.…
Michael Faraday
in 1813
1 moment here
English chemist and physicist whose experimental work transformed the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.…
Moments
- 1693 Moved in with the d'Hervart family Jean de La Fontaine
- 1694 Born in Paris Voltaire
- 1695 Death at the Hôtel d'Hervart Jean de La Fontaine
- 1704 Studies at Louis-le-Grand Voltaire
- 1709 Scholarly residence in Paris Montesquieu
- 1717 Diplomatic and scholarly visits in Paris Peter the Great
- 1717 First Bastille imprisonment Voltaire
- 1726 Second Bastille imprisonment Voltaire
- 1726 Move to Paris after sale of office Montesquieu
- 1727 Letter from Paris Montesquieu
- 1728 Departure for Vienna Montesquieu
- 1734 Residence in Paris while preparing later work Montesquieu
- 1738 Botanical visit in Paris Carl Linnaeus
- 1739 Letter from Paris to Niccolini Montesquieu
- 1742 Presentation to the Académie des Sciences Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1744 Visits Paris and begins relationship with Denis Voltaire
- 1745 Return to Paris and relationship with Thérèse Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1749 Visits to Diderot at Vincennes Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1749 Returns briefly to Paris after du Châtelet’s death Voltaire
- 1754 Final visit to Paris Montesquieu
- 1755 Death in Paris Montesquieu
- 1759 Residence at Château de Montmorency Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1763 Arrives in Paris Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- 1764 First arrival in Paris Adam Smith
- 1765 Paris stay with the Prince of Conti Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1766 Second Paris residence and intellectual meetings Adam Smith
- 1766 Returns to Paris Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- 1767 Visit to Paris Benjamin Franklin
- 1770 Final Paris residence on Rue Platrière Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1776 Carriage accident in Paris Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1776 American commissioner in Passy Benjamin Franklin
- 1778 Lives at Chaussée-d'Antin in Paris Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- 1778 Treaties with France Benjamin Franklin
- 1778 Returns to Paris after twenty-five years Voltaire
- 1778 Attends a performance of Irène Voltaire
- 1778 Initiated at Les Neuf Sœurs Voltaire
- 1778 Dies in Paris Voltaire
- 1783 Hydrogen-balloon flight witness Benjamin Franklin
- 1783 Signed Treaty of Paris John Adams
- 1783 Manned balloon launch Benjamin Franklin
- 1784 Meeting with Mirabeau Benjamin Franklin
- 1784 Arrival as diplomat in Paris Thomas Jefferson
- 1789 Present in Paris during Bastille storming Thomas Jefferson
- 1799 Confronts legislators at Saint-Cloud Napoleon Bonaparte
- 1802 Travels to Paris Simón Bolívar
- 1804 Takes an apartment in Paris Simón Bolívar
- 1804 Crowned at Notre-Dame Napoleon Bonaparte
- 1806 Returns to Paris Simón Bolívar
- 1810 Marries Marie Louise at the Louvre Napoleon Bonaparte
- 1813 Paris boarding school Honoré de Balzac