Antoine Court de Gebilin (409)

Antoine Court de Gébelin (c.1724/28–1784) was a scholar, pastor, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1783. Born either in Geneva, Switzerland or Nîmes, France, de Gébelin attended the Lausanne Seminary with the intent of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a pastor. Defending his thesis in 1754, he then taught philosophy, ethics, and controversy for the next nine years. After his father’s death in 1760, he relocated to Paris where he dedicated himself to studying ancient language and mythology. He joined many confraternal societies which dealt in those spheres: namely the Freemasons in 1771, and the Nine Sisters, for whom he served as secretary in 1778. By 1775, de Gébelin began publishing volumes of his De Monde Primitif, wherein he explored a universal theory of ancient language; established a history of the calendar; and even reconstructed the ancient art of tarot, employing seemingly encyclopedic knowledge throughout. An ambitious undertaking, he earned the title of Censeur Royal for his efforts, despite being a Protestant. All the while, he remained an activist for political and religious liberty: he advocated for the rights of his fellow Protestants in France, and supported American Independence, contributing to the Affaires de l’Angleterre et de l'Amérique (1776) alongside Benjamin Franklin, a fellow member of the Nine Sisters, and other American patriots. He died having published eleven volumes of the incomplete De Monde Primitif, and while mostly overlooked today, de Gébelin is considered instrumental in development of modern day tarot-reading. (EB)