Authors
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Jean Alembert (1717 - 1783): Topic PageFrench mathematician, encyclopedist, and theoretical physicist.
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Pierre de Beaumarchais (1732 - 1799)From The Columbia Encyclopedia
French dramatist. -
Pierre Corneille (1606 - 1684): Topic PageIn the course of a long association with the Parisian theatres he produced over 30 plays, and proved equally successful in tragedy and comedy.
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Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650): Topic PageFrench philosopher and mathematician.
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Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784): Topic PageFrench encyclopedist, philosopher of materialism, and critic of art and literature, b. Langres. He was also a novelist, satirist, and dramatist. Diderot was enormously influential in shaping the rationalistic spirit of the 18th cent.
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Marivaux (Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux) (1688 - 1763)From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
French playwright and novelist. -
Molière (1622 - 1673): Topic PageMolière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1622, bears the unchallenged mantle of France's greatest comic dramatist.
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Baron de Montesquieu (1689 - 1755)From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
French political philosopher, the political philosophe of the Enlightenment. -
Jean Racine (1639 - 1699): Topic PageFrench dramatist. Racine is the prime exemplar of French classicism.
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Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778): Topic PageSwiss-French philosopher, author, political theorist, and composer. Few people have equaled Rousseau's influence in politics, literature, and education.
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Marquis de Sade (1740 - 1814): Topic PageFrench writer and libertine.
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Voltaire (1694 - 1778): Topic PageFrench philosopher and author. One of the towering geniuses in literary and intellectual history, Voltaire personifies the Enlightenment.
Works
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Encyclopédie: Topic PageThe work of the French Encyclopedists, or philosophes. The full title was Encyclopédie; ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts, et des métiers.
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Candide, ou l'OptismeFrom The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide
Satire by Voltaire, published in 1759.
Organizations
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Comédie-Française: Topic PageFrench theatre and theatre company. Formed in 1680 by a royal decree merging the troupes of Molière (d.1673) and of the Hôtel de Bourgogne, the Comédie-Française is proud of its uninterrupted tradition as the oldest European theatre company.
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L'Académie française: Topic PageLearned society of France. It is one of the five societies of the Institut de France.
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Institut de France: Topic PageCultural institution of the French state. Founded in 1795 by the Directory, it replaced five learned societies that had been suppressed in 1793 by the Convention.
Movements
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Melodrama: Topic PageJ. J. Rousseau's melodrama Pygmalion (1762; first performed 1770) helped create a vogue for stage plays in which the action was generally romantic, full of violent action, and often characterized by the final triumph of virtue.
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Enlightenment: Topic PageThe scientific and intellectual developments of the 17th century fostered the belief in natural law and universal order and the confidence in human reason that spread to influence all of 18th-century society.
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Rationalism: Topic PageIn philosophy, a theory that holds that reason alone, unaided by experience, can arrive at basic truth regarding the world.
Regime Change
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French Revolution: Topic PagePolitical upheaval of world importance in France that began in 1789.
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Reign of Terror: Topic Page1793–94, period of the French Revolution characterized by a wave of executions of presumed enemies of the state.
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Commune of Paris: Topic PageInsurrectionary governments in Paris formed during (1792) the French Revolution and at the end (1871) of the Franco-Prussian War.