How did denis diderot die

DENIS DIDEROT

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was a French writer, philosopher and art critic, who with Voltaire to a great extent shaped the French Enlightenment during the greater part of the 18th century. Diderot was born in Langres, Champagne, where he was educated at the Jesuit College. He earned a degree in philosophy and entered the Collège d’Harcourt in Paris. Diderot was disowned by his father because he refused to complete his legal studies and married a girl of lower social standing. For the rest of his life he remained in poor circumstances, because his prolific writing was not very profitable and he never succeeded in obtaining a position within the institutions of literature and scholarship. When he had financial difficulties, the Russian Empress Catherine II, an admirer of his works, offered to buy his library, which he could retain until his death. In 1773-1774 Diderot visited the empress in Saint Petersburg.

Diderot’s major work is l’Encyclopédie, which still is a monument of the French Enlightenment, representing the standard of schola

Denis Diderot

French philosopher and writer (1713–1784)

"Diderot" redirects here. For the lunar impact crater, see Diderot (crater).

Denis Diderot (;[2]French:[dənidid(ə)ʁo]; 5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment.[3]

Diderot initially studied philosophy at a Jesuit college, then considered working in the church clergy before briefly studying law. When he decided to become a writer in 1734, his father disowned him. He lived a bohemian existence for the next decade. In the 1740s he wrote many of his best-known works in both fiction and non-fiction, including the 1748 novel Les Bijoux indiscrets (The Indiscreet Jewels).

In 1751 Diderot co-created the Encyclopédie with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was the first encyclopedia to include contributions from many named contributors and the first to describe the

Scientist of the Day - Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot, a French philosophe, was born Oct. 5, 1713.  Diderot was the major force behind the publication of the famous Encyclopédie, the first modern encyclopedia, which appeared in 17 folio volumes of text and 11 plate volumes between 1751 and 1772. Its full title was: Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (Encyclopedia, or a Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts)

Titlepage of vol. 1, Encyclopédie, ed. by Denis Diderot, 1751 (Linda Hall Library)

Portrait of Denis Diderot, oil on canvas, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, ca 1769, Louvre (Wikimedia commons)

Diderot was co-founder and co-editor of the project with Jean d’Alembert, but d’Alembert retired from the enterprise halfway through, and Diderot had to carry on alone. Problems arose constantly. After volumes 1 and 2 appeared, the theological faculty at the Sorbonne in Paris condemned the work and the publication license was lifted. It was eventually reinstated, but after volume 7, in 1759, publication again c

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