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Baron d'Holbach
Paul Thiry, Baron d'Holbach (/ˈdoʊlbɑːk/; French: [dɔlbak]; 8 December 1723 – 21 January 1789), known as d'Holbach, was a Franco-German philosopher, encyclopedist and writer, who was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon. He helped in the dissemination of "Protestant and especially German thought", particularly in the field of the sciences, but was best known for his atheism, and for his voluminous writings against religion, the most famous of them being The System of Nature (1770) and The Universal Morality (1776).
Sources differ regarding d'Holbach's dates of birth and death. His exact birthday is unknown, although records show that he was baptised on 8 December 1723.[citation needed] Some authorities incorrectly give June 1789 as the month of his death. D'Holbach's mother, Catherine Jacobina (née Holbach; 1684–1743), was the daughter of Johannes Jacobus Holbach (died 1723). His father, Johann Jakob Dietrich (with other notations: ger.: Johann Jakob Dirre; fr.: Jean-Jacques Thiry; 1672–1756), was a wine-grower.
D'Holbach wrote nothing of his childhood,[citation needed] although it is known he was raised in Paris by his uncle Franz Adam Holbach (or Adam François d'Holbach or Messire François-Adam, Baron d'Holbach, Seigneur de Heeze, Leende et autres Lieux) (approx. 1675–1753), who had become a millionaire by speculating on the Paris stock-exchange. With his financial support, d'Holbach attended Leiden University from 1744 to 1748, where he became a friend of John Wilkes. In 1750, he married his second cousin, Basile-Geneviève d'Aine (1728–1754), and in 1753 a son was born to them, Francois Nicholas, who left France before his father died. In 1753 both d'Holbach's uncle and father died, leaving him with an enormous inheritance, including Heeze Castle, Kasteel Heeze te Heeze.
D'Holbach remained wealthy throughout his life. In 1754, his wife died from an unknown disease. The distraught d'Holbach moved to the provinces for a brief period with his friend Baron Grimm and in the following year received a special dispensation from the Pope to marry his deceased wife's sister, Charlotte-Suzanne d'Aine (1733–1814). They had a son, Charles-Marius (1757–1832), and two daughters, Amélie-Suzanne (13 January 1759) and Louise-Pauline (19 December 1759 – 1830).
During the summer months, when Paris was hot and humid, Baron d'Holbach retreated to his country estate at Grandval, Le Château de Grand-Val (Sucy-en-Brie today N° 27 rue du Grand-Val on the outskirts of Paris (Département Val-de-Marne). There he would invite friends to stay for a few days or weeks, and every year he invited Denis Diderot whom he joined at an Anglican chapel service at the opening of the English Embassy led by Laurence Sterne.
D'Holbach was known for his generosity, often providing financial support discreetly or anonymously to his friends, amongst them Diderot. It is thought that the virtuous atheist Wolmar in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse is based on d'Holbach. Holbach died in Paris on 21 January 1789, a few months before the French Revolution. The authorship of his various anti-religious works did not become widely known until the early 19th century. Ironically, he was buried in the Church of Saint-Roch, Paris. The exact location of the grave is unknown.
From c. 1750 to c. 1790, Baron d'Holbach used his wealth to maintain one of the more notable and lavish Parisian salons, which soon became an important meeting place for the contributors to the Encyclopédie.
Meetings were held regularly twice a week, on Sundays and Thursdays, in d'Holbach's home in rue Royale. Visitors to the salon were exclusively males, and the tone of discussion highbrow, often extending to topics more extensive than those of other salons. This, along with the excellent food, expensive wine, and a library of over 3000 volumes, attracted many notable visitors. Among the regulars in attendance at the salon—the coterie holbachique—were the following: Diderot, Grimm, Condillac, Condorcet, D'Alembert, Marmontel, Turgot, La Condamine, Raynal, Helvétius, Galiani, Morellet, Naigeon and, for a time, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The salon was also visited by prominent British intellectuals, amongst them Adam Smith, David Hume, John Wilkes, Horace Walpole, Edward Gibbon, David Garrick, Laurence Sterne; the Italian Cesare Beccaria; and the American Benjamin Franklin.
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Baron d'Holbach
Paul Thiry, Baron d'Holbach (/ˈdoʊlbɑːk/; French: [dɔlbak]; 8 December 1723 – 21 January 1789), known as d'Holbach, was a Franco-German philosopher, encyclopedist and writer, who was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon. He helped in the dissemination of "Protestant and especially German thought", particularly in the field of the sciences, but was best known for his atheism, and for his voluminous writings against religion, the most famous of them being The System of Nature (1770) and The Universal Morality (1776).
Sources differ regarding d'Holbach's dates of birth and death. His exact birthday is unknown, although records show that he was baptised on 8 December 1723.[citation needed] Some authorities incorrectly give June 1789 as the month of his death. D'Holbach's mother, Catherine Jacobina (née Holbach; 1684–1743), was the daughter of Johannes Jacobus Holbach (died 1723). His father, Johann Jakob Dietrich (with other notations: ger.: Johann Jakob Dirre; fr.: Jean-Jacques Thiry; 1672–1756), was a wine-grower.
D'Holbach wrote nothing of his childhood,[citation needed] although it is known he was raised in Paris by his uncle Franz Adam Holbach (or Adam François d'Holbach or Messire François-Adam, Baron d'Holbach, Seigneur de Heeze, Leende et autres Lieux) (approx. 1675–1753), who had become a millionaire by speculating on the Paris stock-exchange. With his financial support, d'Holbach attended Leiden University from 1744 to 1748, where he became a friend of John Wilkes. In 1750, he married his second cousin, Basile-Geneviève d'Aine (1728–1754), and in 1753 a son was born to them, Francois Nicholas, who left France before his father died. In 1753 both d'Holbach's uncle and father died, leaving him with an enormous inheritance, including Heeze Castle, Kasteel Heeze te Heeze.
D'Holbach remained wealthy throughout his life. In 1754, his wife died from an unknown disease. The distraught d'Holbach moved to the provinces for a brief period with his friend Baron Grimm and in the following year received a special dispensation from the Pope to marry his deceased wife's sister, Charlotte-Suzanne d'Aine (1733–1814). They had a son, Charles-Marius (1757–1832), and two daughters, Amélie-Suzanne (13 January 1759) and Louise-Pauline (19 December 1759 – 1830).
During the summer months, when Paris was hot and humid, Baron d'Holbach retreated to his country estate at Grandval, Le Château de Grand-Val (Sucy-en-Brie today N° 27 rue du Grand-Val on the outskirts of Paris (Département Val-de-Marne). There he would invite friends to stay for a few days or weeks, and every year he invited Denis Diderot whom he joined at an Anglican chapel service at the opening of the English Embassy led by Laurence Sterne.
D'Holbach was known for his generosity, often providing financial support discreetly or anonymously to his friends, amongst them Diderot. It is thought that the virtuous atheist Wolmar in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse is based on d'Holbach. Holbach died in Paris on 21 January 1789, a few months before the French Revolution. The authorship of his various anti-religious works did not become widely known until the early 19th century. Ironically, he was buried in the Church of Saint-Roch, Paris. The exact location of the grave is unknown.
From c. 1750 to c. 1790, Baron d'Holbach used his wealth to maintain one of the more notable and lavish Parisian salons, which soon became an important meeting place for the contributors to the Encyclopédie.
Meetings were held regularly twice a week, on Sundays and Thursdays, in d'Holbach's home in rue Royale. Visitors to the salon were exclusively males, and the tone of discussion highbrow, often extending to topics more extensive than those of other salons. This, along with the excellent food, expensive wine, and a library of over 3000 volumes, attracted many notable visitors. Among the regulars in attendance at the salon—the coterie holbachique—were the following: Diderot, Grimm, Condillac, Condorcet, D'Alembert, Marmontel, Turgot, La Condamine, Raynal, Helvétius, Galiani, Morellet, Naigeon and, for a time, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The salon was also visited by prominent British intellectuals, amongst them Adam Smith, David Hume, John Wilkes, Horace Walpole, Edward Gibbon, David Garrick, Laurence Sterne; the Italian Cesare Beccaria; and the American Benjamin Franklin.