M.J.A.N. Caritat Condorcet (367)

Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (17 September 1743–29 March 1794) was a philosopher, writer, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1775. Born in Ribemont, France, Condorcet studied at the Jesuit college in Reims and the College of Navarre in Paris, excelling in mathematics. Joining the Academie des Sciences in 1769, he quickly entered the heart of French intellectual society: contributing to papers of various subjects, assisting in preparations for the Encyclopédie, becoming a permanent secretary of the Academie des Sciences (1777), and joining the French Academy (1782). In 1768 he married Sophie de Grouchy, who ran Hôtel des Monnaies, one of the foremost salons at the time. The two shared many philosophical and political convictions and formed a strong intellectual partnership. Both readily welcomed the French Revolution, during which Condorcet represented Paris in the Legislative Assembly. He helped implement a state education system and various other reforms until the more moderate Girondins, whom he represented, fell out of favor, and the Jacobins thereby forced Condorcet into hiding. While in exile, he developed and published his thoughts on human progress, and his opposition to the institutions of slavery, the church, and monarchy. Notably, Condorcet was also an advocate for women’s rights: he strongly rejected the commonly-held belief of the time that women were intellectually and physically inferior, and even went so far as to support equal rights for women under the law. While trying to escape Jacobin spies, Condorcet found himself captured and imprisoned, and died mysteriously two days later. (EB, et al.)