Guillaume T. F. Raynall (360)

Guillaume Thomas François Raynal (12 April 1713–6 March 1796) was a writer, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1775. Born in Saint-Geniez, France, Raynal began his studies at the Jesuit school of Pézanas, receiving holy orders and working in the parish of Saint-Sulpice in Paris before being mysteriously dismissed. From then on, he dedicated himself to writing and historical studies: composing histories of the Netherlands (1747), and then English Parliament (1748), and editing Mercure de France (1750-1754), a government-backed periodical. He quickly earned a spot in the Parisian salons. His popularity seemed to only increase upon the publication of his collaboration with Denis Diderot, Histoire de deux Indes (1770), which condemned colonial European treatment of the indigenous people in India and the Americas, citing religious bigotry and abuse of power as sources of unjust violence. The Histoire was published in many editions and translations despite landing a spot on Catholic Church’s Index of Forbidden Books in 1774. Raynal was driven into exile, being welcomed by the likes of Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great as he ventured through Europe. Finally, in 1787, he returned to France, where Marseilles had elected him to the Estates-General. Raynal refused the appointment because of the violence of the French Revolution, and prepared a tone-deaf message for the National Assembly renouncing the carnage and supporting a constitutional monarchy in 1791. Unsurprisingly, the National Assembly retaliated and seized his estate. Still, he regained some of his reputation a few years later, joining the Institute of France in 1795. Unfortunately, however, he died one year later. (EB)