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84-558: Procope may refer to: Café Procope , the oldest cafe in Paris Procopio Cutò , otherwise known as François Procope (1651–1727), a Sicilian chef who founded the Café Procope Ulla Procopé (1921–1968), a Finnish designer of ceramics Apheresis , a removal of blood plasma from the body Apheresis (linguistics) , in linguistics, a sound change in which
168-432: A notary and then to an engraver who beat him. At 15, he ran away from Geneva (on 14 March 1728) after returning to the city and finding the city gates locked due to the curfew. In adjoining Savoy he took shelter with a Roman Catholic priest, who introduced him to Françoise-Louise de Warens , age 29. She was a noblewoman of a Protestant background who was separated from her husband. As a professional lay proselytizer, she
252-461: A "scolding". For more than two years (1762–1765) Rousseau lived at Môtiers , spending his time in reading and writing and meeting visitors such as James Boswell (December 1764). (Boswell recorded his private discussions with Rousseau, in both direct quotation and dramatic dialog, over several pages of his 1764 journal. ) In the meantime, the local ministers had become aware of the apostasies in some of his writings and resolved not to let him stay in
336-466: A bookseller who may have published Protestant tracts, had escaped persecution from French Catholics by fleeing to Geneva in 1549, where he became a wine merchant. Rousseau was proud that his family, of the moyen order (or middle-class), had voting rights in the city. Throughout his life, he generally signed his books "Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Citizen of Geneva". Geneva, in theory, was governed democratically by its male voting citizens . The citizens were
420-529: A few books in his possession and permission to walk occasionally in a garden while living at his own expense. The Senate's response was to direct Rousseau to leave the island, and all Bernese territory, within twenty-four hours. On 29 October 1765 he left the Île de St.-Pierre and moved to Strasbourg. At this point he received invitations from several parties in Europe, and soon decided to accept Hume 's invitation to go to England. On 9 December 1765, having secured
504-597: A few years after the death of Voltaire, Louis-Sébastien Mercier noted: All the works of this Paris-born writer seem to have been made for the capital. It was foremost in his mind when he wrote. While composing, he was looking towards the French Academy, the public of Comédie française, the Café Procope, and a circle of young musketeers. He hardly ever had anything else in sight. During the Revolution,
588-682: A fondness for it; but we soon found ourselves so interested in the adventures they contained, that we alternately read whole nights together and could not bear to give over until after a volume. Sometimes, in the morning, on hearing the swallows at our window, my father, quite ashamed of this weakness, would cry, "Come, come, let us go to bed; I am more a child than thou art." ( Confessions , Book 1) Rousseau's reading of escapist stories (such as L'Astrée by Honoré d'Urfé ) affected him; he later wrote that they "gave me bizarre and romantic notions of human life, which experience and reflection have never been able to cure me of". After they had finished reading
672-575: A hub of the Parisian artistic and literary community in 18th and 19th centuries. It sometimes is erroneously called the oldest café of Paris in continuous operation; (the Queen's Lane Coffee House in Oxford England has been in continuous operation since 1654) however, the original café closed in 1872 and the space was used in various ways before 1957, when the current incarnation (not a café but
756-475: A hundred crowns, from which you will be kind enough to give him as much as he needs. I think he will accept them in kind more readily than in cash. If we were not at war, if we were not ruined, I would build him a hermitage with a garden, where he could live as I believe our first fathers did...I think poor Rousseau has missed his vocation; he was obviously born to be a famous anchorite, a desert father, celebrated for his austerities and flagellations...I conclude that
840-457: A large library and loved to entertain and listen to music. She and her circle, comprising educated members of the Catholic clergy, introduced Rousseau to the world of letters and ideas. Rousseau had been an indifferent student, but during his 20s, which were marked by long bouts of hypochondria , he applied himself in earnest to the study of philosophy, mathematics, and music. At 25, he came into
924-641: A local official, Martinet, arrived at Rousseau's residence he saw so many stones on the balcony that he exclaimed "My God, it's a quarry!" At this point, Rousseau's friends in Môtiers advised him to leave the town. Since he wanted to remain in Switzerland, Rousseau decided to accept an offer to move to a tiny island, the Île de St.-Pierre , having a solitary house. Although it was within the Canton of Bern , from where he had been expelled two years previously, he
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#17327982473911008-543: A minority of the population when compared to the immigrants ( inhabitants ) and their descendants ( natives ). In fact, rather than being run by vote of the citizens, the city was ruled by a small number of wealthy families that made up the Council of Two Hundred ; they delegated their power to a 25-member executive group from among them called the "Small Council". There was much political debate within Geneva, extending down to
1092-423: A neighbourhood of craftsmen—silversmiths, engravers, and other watchmakers. Growing up around craftsmen, Rousseau would later contrast them favourably to those who produced more aesthetic works, writing "those important persons who are called artists rather than artisans, work solely for the idle and rich, and put an arbitrary price on their baubles". Rousseau was also exposed to class politics in this environment, as
1176-691: A passport from the French government, Rousseau left Strasbourg for Paris where he arrived a week later and lodged in a palace of his friend, the Prince of Conti . Here he met Hume, and also numerous friends and well-wishers, and became a conspicuous figure in the city. At this time, Hume wrote: "It is impossible to express or imagine the enthusiasm of this nation in Rousseau's favor...No person ever so much enjoyed their attention...Voltaire and everybody else are quite eclipsed. Although Diderot at this time desired
1260-461: A profession, and arranged formal music lessons for him. At one point, he briefly attended a seminary with the idea of becoming a priest. When Rousseau reached 20, de Warens took him as her lover, while intimate also with the steward of her house. The sexual aspect of their relationship (a ménage à trois ) confused Rousseau and made him uncomfortable, but he always considered de Warens the greatest love of his life. A rather profligate spender, she had
1344-453: A quarrel with visiting English officers, who in response drew their swords and threatened him. After local officials stepped in, it was Isaac who was punished, as Geneva was concerned with maintaining its ties to foreign powers. Rousseau's mother, Suzanne Bernard Rousseau, was from an upper-class family. She was raised by her uncle Samuel Bernard, a Calvinist preacher. He cared for Suzanne after her father, Jacques, who had run into trouble with
1428-501: A reconciliation with Rousseau, both of them expected an initiative by the other, and the two did not meet. On 1 January 1766, Grimm included in his "Correspondance littéraire" a letter said to have been written by Frederick the Great to Rousseau. It had actually been composed by Horace Walpole as a playful hoax. Walpole had never met Rousseau, but he was well acquainted with Diderot and Grimm. The letter soon found wide publicity; Hume
1512-490: A restaurant) was opened; so the claim of "oldest café in continuous operation" is not supported. Cutò first apprenticed under the leadership of an Armenian immigrant named Pascal who had a kiosk ( une loge de la limonade , English: lemonade stand ) on rue de Tournon selling refreshments, including lemonade and coffee. Pascal's attempt at such a business in Paris was not successful and he went to London in 1675, leaving
1596-620: A small inheritance from his mother and used a portion of it to repay de Warens for her financial support of him. At 27, he took a job as a tutor in Lyon . In 1742, Rousseau moved to Paris to present the Académie des Sciences with a new system of numbered musical notation he believed would make his fortune. His system, intended to be compatible with typography , is based on a single line, displaying numbers representing intervals between notes and dots and commas indicating rhythmic values. Believing
1680-501: A spiritual origin of man's soul and the universe, in contradistinction to the materialism of Diderot, La Mettrie and D'Holbach . During this period, Rousseau enjoyed the support and patronage of Charles II François Frédéric de Montmorency-Luxembourg and the Prince de Conti , two of the richest and most powerful nobles in France. These men truly liked Rousseau and enjoyed his ability to converse on any subject, but they also used him as
1764-429: A theorist of education and child-rearing, his abandonment of his children was used by his critics, including Voltaire and Edmund Burke , as the basis for arguments ad hominem . Beginning with some articles on music in 1749, Rousseau contributed numerous articles to Diderot and D'Alembert 's great Encyclopédie , the most famous of which was an article on political economy written in 1755. Rousseau's ideas were
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#17327982473911848-417: A way of getting back at Louis XV and the political faction surrounding his mistress, Madame de Pompadour . Even with them, however, Rousseau went too far, courting rejection when he criticized the practice of tax farming , in which some of them engaged. Rousseau's 800-page novel of sentiment , Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse , was published in 1761 to immense success. The book's rhapsodic descriptions of
1932-458: A word-initial is lost Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Procope . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Procope&oldid=1211907357 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2016-485: A year late and paid his staff irregularly. After 11 months, Rousseau quit, taking from the experience a profound distrust of government bureaucracy. Returning to Paris, the penniless Rousseau befriended and became the lover of Thérèse Levasseur , a seamstress who was the sole support of her mother and numerous ne'er-do-well siblings. At first, they did not live together, though later Rousseau took Thérèse and her mother in to live with him as his servants, and himself assumed
2100-498: Is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight"; this was interpreted by everyone to mean that Rousseau's taking communion was detested by the Lord. The ecclesiastical attacks inflamed the parishioners, who proceeded to pelt Rousseau with stones when he would go out for walks. Around midnight of 6–7 September 1765, stones were thrown at the house Rousseau was staying in, and some glass windows were shattered. When
2184-596: Is believed to have been present, and to have participated in its creation. On 16 February 1766, Hume wrote to the Marquise de Brabantane: "The only pleasantry I permitted myself in connection with the pretended letter of the King of Prussia was made by me at the dinner table of Lord Ossory." This letter was one of the reasons for the later rupture in Hume's relations with Rousseau. On 4 January 1766 Rousseau left Paris with Hume,
2268-633: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Caf%C3%A9 Procope The Café Procope ( French pronunciation: [kafe pʁokɔp] ), also known as Le Procope ( [lə pʁokɔp] ), on the Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie, is a café in the 6th arrondissement of Paris . The original café was opened in 1686 by the Sicilian chef Procopio Cutò (also known by his Italian name Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli and his French name François Procope); it became
2352-630: Is known to have said, "Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal." The birthplace of the Encyclopédie , conceived by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert , is said to be at Café Procope. Alain-René Lesage described the hubbub at Procope in La Valise Trouvée (1772): "There is an ebb and flow of all conditions of men, nobles and cooks, wits and sots, pell mell, all chattering in full chorus to their heart's content", indicating an increasingly democratic mix. Writing
2436-475: Is over their depth! In 1702, Cutò changed his name to the gallicized François Procope, and renamed the business to Café Procope, the name by which it is still known today. Prior to that, it had been known only as the "boutique at the sign of the Holy Shroud of Turin", which was the name of the previous business at the location. Throughout the 18th century, the brasserie Procope was the meeting place of
2520-657: The Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (the Discourse on Inequality ), which elaborated on the arguments of the Discourse on the Arts and Sciences . He also pursued an unconsummated romantic attachment with the 25-year-old Sophie d'Houdetot , which partly inspired his epistolary novel Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse (also based on memories of his idyllic youthful relationship with Mme de Warens). Sophie
2604-595: The Phrygian cap , soon to be the symbol of Liberty, was first displayed at the Procope. The Cordeliers , Robespierre , Danton and Marat all used the café as a meeting place. After the Restoration, another famous customer was Alexander von Humboldt who, during the 1820s, lunched there every day from 11am to noon. The Café Procope retained its literary cachet; Alfred de Musset , George Sand , Gustave Planche ,
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2688-628: The Querelle des Bouffons , which pitted protagonists of French music against supporters of the Italian style. Rousseau, as noted above, was an enthusiastic supporter of the Italians against Jean-Philippe Rameau and others, making an important contribution with his Letter on French Music . On returning to Geneva in 1754, Rousseau reconverted to Calvinism and regained his official Genevan citizenship. In 1755, Rousseau completed his second major work,
2772-463: The savants who come to leave aside the laborious spirit of the study; there one sees others whose gravity and plumpness stand in for merit. Those, in a raised voice, often impose silence on the deftest wit, and rouse themselves to praise everything that is to be blamed, and blame everything that is worthy of praise. How entertaining for those of spirit to see originals setting themselves up as arbiters of good taste and deciding with an imperious tone what
2856-427: The total depravity of man. Leo Damrosch writes: "An eighteenth-century Genevan liturgy still required believers to declare 'that we are miserable sinners, born in corruption, inclined to evil, incapable by ourselves of doing good ' ". De Warens, a deist by inclination, was attracted to Catholicism's doctrine of forgiveness of sins. Finding himself on his own, since his father and uncle had more or less disowned him,
2940-443: The Café Procope was refurbished in an 18th-century style. Notes Bibliography Jean-Jacques Rousseau This is an accepted version of this page Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( UK : / ˈ r uː s oʊ / , US : / r uː ˈ s oʊ / ; French: [ʒɑ̃ʒak ʁuso] ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ( philosophe ), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced
3024-458: The Molé. Other active members during this period included Ernest Picard , Clément Laurier and Léon Renault. A plaque at the establishment claims that it is the oldest continually-functioning café in the world. Café Procope. Here founded Procopio dei Coltelli in 1686 the oldest coffeehouse of the world and the most famous center of the literary and philosophic life of the 18th and 19th centuries. It
3108-571: The New Heloise (1761) was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction. His Emile, or On Education (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published Confessions (completed in 1770), which initiated the modern autobiography, and the unfinished Reveries of the Solitary Walker (composed 1776–1778)—exemplified
3192-480: The age of 31. Isaac's sister had married Suzanne's brother eight years earlier, after she had become pregnant and they had been chastised by the Consistory. The child died at birth. The young Rousseau was told a fabricated story about the situation in which young love had been denied by a disapproving patriarch but later prevailed, resulting in two marriages uniting the families on the same day. Rousseau never learnt
3276-489: The artisans often agitated in a campaign of resistance against the privileged class running Geneva. Rousseau had no recollection of learning to read, but he remembered how when he was five or six his father encouraged his love of reading: Every night, after supper, we read some part of a small collection of romances [adventure stories], which had been my mother's. My father's design was only to improve my reading, and he thought these entertaining works were calculated to give me
3360-429: The arts and sciences were responsible for the moral degeneration of mankind, who were basically good by nature. Rousseau's 1750 Discourse on the Arts and Sciences was awarded the first prize and gained him significant fame. Rousseau continued his interest in music. He wrote both the words and music of his opera Le devin du village ( The Village Soothsayer ), which was performed for King Louis XV in 1752. The king
3444-557: The burden of supporting her large family. According to his Confessions , before she moved in with him, Thérèse bore him a son and as many as four other children (there is no independent verification for this number). Rousseau wrote that he persuaded Thérèse to give each of the newborns up to a foundling hospital, for the sake of her "honor". "Her mother, who feared the inconvenience of a brat, came to my aid, and she [Thérèse] allowed herself to be overcome" ( Confessions ). In his letter to Madame de Francueil in 1751, he first pretended that he
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3528-515: The chapter on Civil Religion in the Social Contract , which implied that the concept of a Christian republic was paradoxical since Christianity taught submission rather than participation in public affairs. Rousseau helped Roustan find a publisher for the rebuttal. Rousseau published Emile, or On Education in May. A famous section of Emile , "The Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar",
3612-453: The concept of natural selection "as an agent for improving the human species." Rousseau had read about an essay competition sponsored by the Académie de Dijon to be published in the Mercure de France on the theme of whether the development of the arts and sciences had been morally beneficial. He wrote that while walking to Vincennes (about three miles from Paris), he had a revelation that
3696-500: The condition that he preserved the café's atmosphere. Bellefonds opened a private artist's club and established a journal entitled Le Procope , neither of which were very successful. The premises then became the Restaurant Procope, and in the 1920s, it was changed back to a café called Au Grand Soleil. At some point, a new owner realised the marketing value of the original name and rechristened it Café Procope. In 1988–89,
3780-421: The courts, he moved away to Nyon in the territory of Bern, taking Rousseau's aunt Suzanne with him. He remarried, and from that point, Jean-Jacques saw little of him. Jean-Jacques was left with his maternal uncle, who packed him and his son, Abraham Bernard, away to board for two years with a Calvinist minister in a hamlet outside Geneva. Here, the boys picked up the elements of mathematics and drawing. Rousseau, who
3864-585: The intellectual establishment, and of the nouvellistes of the scandal-gossip trade, whose remarks at Procope were repeated in the police reports. Not all the Encyclopédistes drank forty cups of coffee a day like Voltaire , who mixed his with chocolate, but they all met at Café Procope, as did Benjamin Franklin , John Paul Jones and Thomas Jefferson . There are words above the door at Cutò's establishment that read: Café à la Voltaire . Voltaire
3948-505: The journalist Grimm ; and their mutual friend, Diderot, who took their side against Rousseau. Diderot later described Rousseau as being "false, vain as Satan, ungrateful, cruel, hypocritical, and wicked... He sucked ideas from me, used them himself, and then affected to despise me". Rousseau's break with the Encyclopédistes coincided with the composition of his three major works, in all of which he emphasized his fervent belief in
4032-585: The late 18th-century " Age of Sensibility ", and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. Rousseau was born in the Republic of Geneva , which was at the time a city-state and a Protestant associate of the Swiss Confederacy (now a canton of Switzerland ). Since 1536, Geneva had been a Huguenot republic and the seat of Calvinism . Five generations before Rousseau, his ancestor Didier,
4116-495: The legal and religious authorities for fornication and having a mistress, died in his early 30s. In 1695, Suzanne had to answer charges that she had attended a street theatre disguised as a peasant woman so she could gaze upon M. Vincent Sarrasin, whom she fancied despite his continuing marriage. After a hearing, she was ordered by the Genevan Consistory to never interact with him again. She married Rousseau's father at
4200-581: The merchant De Luze (an old friend of Rousseau), and Rousseau's pet dog Sultan. After a four-day journey to Calais , where they stayed for two nights, the travelers embarked on a ship to Dover . On 13 January 1766 they arrived in London. Soon after their arrival, David Garrick arranged a box at the Drury Lane Theatre for Hume and Rousseau on a night when the King and Queen also attended. Garrick
4284-618: The morals of your savage are as pure as his mind is illogical. Rousseau, touched by the help he received from Frederick, stated that from then onwards he took a keen interest in Frederick's activities. As the Seven Years' War was about to end, Rousseau wrote to Frederick again, thanking him for the help received and urging him to put an end to military activities and to endeavor to keep his subjects happy instead. Frederick made no known reply but commented to Keith that Rousseau had given him
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#17327982473914368-638: The natural beauty of the Swiss countryside struck a chord in the public and may have helped spark the subsequent nineteenth-century craze for Alpine scenery. In 1762, Rousseau published Du Contrat Social, Principes du droit politique (in English, literally Of the Social Contract, Principles of Political Right ) in April. Even his friend Antoine-Jacques Roustan felt impelled to write a polite rebuttal of
4452-501: The novels, they began to read a collection of ancient and modern classics left by his mother's uncle. Of these, his favourite was Plutarch 's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans , which he would read to his father while he made watches. Rousseau saw Plutarch's work as another kind of novel—the noble actions of heroes—and he would act out the deeds of the characters he was reading about. In his Confessions , Rousseau stated that
4536-744: The opinion that, insofar as they lead people to virtue, all religions are equally worthy, and that people should therefore conform to the religion in which they have been brought up. This religious indifferentism caused Rousseau and his books to be banned from France and Geneva. He was condemned from the pulpit by the Archbishop of Paris, his books were burned and warrants were issued for his arrest. Former friends such as Jacob Vernes of Geneva could not accept his views and wrote violent rebuttals. A sympathetic observer, David Hume "professed no surprise when he learned that Rousseau's books were banned in Geneva and elsewhere". Rousseau, he wrote, "has not had
4620-479: The past and would continue to be critical of Frederick in the future, stating however: "Your Majesty may dispose of me as you like." Frederick, still in the middle of the Seven Years' War , then wrote to the local governor of Neuchâtel, Marischal Keith , who was a mutual friend of theirs: We must succor this poor unfortunate. His only offense is to have strange opinions which he thinks are good ones. I will send
4704-425: The people from neighbouring buildings came out to join them, including him and his father. Rousseau would always see militias as the embodiment of popular spirit in opposition to the armies of the rulers, whom he saw as disgraceful mercenaries. When Rousseau was ten, his father, an avid hunter, got into a legal quarrel with a wealthy landowner on whose lands he had been caught trespassing. To avoid certain defeat in
4788-550: The philosopher Pierre Leroux , M. Coquille, editor of Le Monde , Anatole France and Mikael Printz were all regulars. Under the Second Empire, August Jean-Marie Vermorel of Le Reforme or Léon Gambetta would expound their plans for social reform. In the 1860s, the Conférence Molé held its meetings at the Café Procope. Léon Gambetta , like many other French orators, learned the art of public speaking at
4872-412: The precaution to throw any veil over his sentiments; and, as he scorns to dissemble his contempt for established opinions, he could not wonder that all the zealots were in arms against him. The liberty of the press is not so secured in any country... as not to render such an open attack on popular prejudice somewhat dangerous." After Rousseau's Emile had outraged the French parliament, an arrest order
4956-428: The prejudice of that city against Italian music; but I had also received from nature a sensibility and niceness of distinction which prejudice cannot withstand. I soon contracted that passion for Italian music with which it inspires all those who are capable of feeling its excellence. In listening to barcaroles , I found I had not yet known what singing was... Rousseau's employer routinely received his stipend as much as
5040-588: The progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic, and educational thought. His Discourse on Inequality , which argues that private property is the source of inequality, and The Social Contract , which outlines the basis for a legitimate political order, are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel Julie, or
5124-408: The reading of Plutarch's works and "the conversations between my father and myself to which it gave rise, formed in me the free and republican spirit". Witnessing the local townsfolk participate in militias made a big impression on Rousseau. Throughout his life, he would recall one scene where, after the volunteer militia had finished its manoeuvres, they began to dance around a fountain and most of
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#17327982473915208-449: The result of an almost obsessive dialogue with writers of the past, filtered in many cases through conversations with Diderot. In 1749, Rousseau was paying daily visits to Diderot, who had been thrown into the fortress of Vincennes under a lettre de cachet for opinions in his " Lettre sur les aveugles ", that hinted at materialism , a belief in atoms , and natural selection . According to science historian Conway Zirkle , Rousseau saw
5292-448: The stall to Procopio. Cutò relocated his kiosk in 1686 to rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés . At the beginning, it was referred to as an "antre" (cavern or cave) because it was so dark inside, even when there was bright sunshine outside. Cutò purchased a bath house and had its unique fixtures removed; he installed in his new café items now standard in modern European cafés (crystal chandeliers, wall mirrors, marble tables). It
5376-407: The street's modern name. By this stroke of fortune, the café attracted many actors, writers, musicians, poets, philosophers, revolutionaries, statesmen, scientists, dramatists, stage artists, playwrights, and literary critics. It was to the Procope, on 18 December 1752, that Rousseau retired, before the performance of Narcisse , his last play, had even finished, saying publicly how boring it all
5460-584: The system was impractical, the Academy rejected it, though they praised his mastery of the subject, and urged him to try again. He befriended Denis Diderot that year, connecting over the discussion of literary endeavors. From 1743 to 1744, Rousseau had an honorable but ill-paying post as a secretary to the Comte de Montaigue, the French ambassador to Venice . This awoke in him a lifelong love for Italian music, particularly opera: I had brought with me from Paris
5544-474: The teenage Rousseau supported himself for a time as a servant, secretary, and tutor, wandering in Italy (Piedmont and Savoy) and France. During this time, he lived on and off with de Warens, whom he idolized. Maurice Cranston notes, "Madame de Warens [...] took him into her household and mothered him; he called her 'maman' and she called him 'petit.'" Flattered by his devotion, de Warens tried to get him started in
5628-524: The tradespeople. Much discussion was over the idea of the sovereignty of the people, of which the ruling class oligarchy was making a mockery. In 1707, democratic reformer Pierre Fatio protested this situation, saying "A sovereign that never performs an act of sovereignty is an imaginary being". He was shot by order of the Small Council. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's father, Isaac , was not in the city then, but Jean-Jacques's grandfather supported Fatio and
5712-440: The truth. Rousseau was born on 28 June 1712, and he would later relate: "I was born almost dying, they had little hope of saving me". He was baptized on 4 July 1712, in the great cathedral. His mother died of puerperal fever nine days after his birth, which he later described as "the first of my misfortunes". He and his older brother François were brought up by their father and a paternal aunt, also named Suzanne. When Rousseau
5796-402: The vicinity. The Neuchâtel Consistory summoned Rousseau to answer a charge of blasphemy. He wrote back asking to be excused due to his inability to sit for a long time due to his ailment. Subsequently, Rousseau's own pastor, Frédéric-Guillaume de Montmollin, started denouncing him publicly as an Antichrist. In one inflammatory sermon, Montmollin quoted Proverbs 15:8: "The sacrifice of the wicked
5880-498: Was a place where gentlemen of fashion might drink coffee , the exotic beverage that had previously been served in taverns, or eat a sorbet , served up in porcelain cups by waiters in exotic " Armenian " garb. The escorted ladies, who appeared at the Café Procope in its earliest days, soon disappeared. In 1689, the Comédie-Française opened its doors in a theatre across the street from his café – hence
5964-402: Was always deeply moved by religious services, for a time even dreamed of becoming a Protestant minister. Virtually all our information about Rousseau's youth has come from his posthumously published Confessions , in which the chronology is somewhat confused, though recent scholars have combed the archives for confirming evidence to fill in the blanks. At age 13, Rousseau was apprenticed first to
6048-402: Was five, his father sold the house the family had received from his mother's relatives. While the idea was that his sons would inherit the principal when grown up and he would live off the interest in the meantime, in the end, the father took most of the substantial proceeds. With the selling of the house, the Rousseau family moved out of the upper-class neighbourhood and into an apartment house in
6132-492: Was frequented by La Fontaine, Voltaire and the Encyclopedistes: Benjamin Franklin, Danton, Marat, Robespierre, Napoleon Bonaparte, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Gambetta, Verlaine and Anatole France. However, the claim is not entirely true. The original Café Procopes closed its doors in 1872, and the property was acquired by a woman by the name of Baronne Thénard, who leased it to a Théo Bellefonds, under
6216-465: Was himself performing in a comedy by himself, and also in a tragedy by Voltaire. Rousseau became so excited during the performance that he leaned too far and almost fell out of the box; Hume observed that the King and Queen were looking at Rousseau more than at the performance. Afterwards, Garrick served supper for Rousseau, who commended Garrick's acting: "Sir, you have made me shed tears at your tragedy, and smile at your comedy, though I scarce understood
6300-528: Was informally assured that he could move into this island house without fear of arrest, and he did so (10 September 1765). Here, despite the remoteness of his retreat, visitors sought him out as a celebrity. However, on 17 October 1765, the Senate of Bern ordered Rousseau to leave the island and all Bernese territory within fifteen days. He replied, requesting permission to extend his stay, and offered to be incarcerated in any place within their jurisdiction with only
6384-646: Was informed that he could not continue to reside in Bern, D'Alembert advised him to move to the Principality of Neuchâtel , ruled by Frederick the Great of Prussia. Subsequently, Rousseau accepted an invitation to reside in Môtiers , fifteen miles from Neuchâtel. On 11 July 1762, Rousseau wrote to Frederick, describing how he had been driven from France, from Geneva, and from Bern; and seeking Frederick's protection. He also mentioned that he had criticized Frederick in
6468-502: Was intended to be a defense of religious belief. Rousseau's choice of a Catholic vicar of humble peasant background (plausibly based on a kindly prelate he had met as a teenager) as a spokesman for the defense of religion was in itself a daring innovation for the time. The vicar's creed was that of Socinianism (or Unitarianism as it is called today). Because it rejected original sin and divine revelation , both Protestant and Catholic authorities took offense. Moreover, Rousseau advocated
6552-666: Was issued by parliament against him, causing him to flee to Switzerland. Subsequently, when the Swiss authorities also proved unsympathetic to him—condemning both Emile , and also The Social Contract —Voltaire issued an invitation to Rousseau to come and reside with him, commenting that: "I shall always love the author of the 'Vicaire savoyard' whatever he has done, and whatever he may do...Let him come here [to Ferney]! He must come! I shall receive him with open arms. He shall be master here more than I. I shall treat him like my own son." Rousseau later expressed regret that he had not replied to Voltaire's invitation. In July 1762, after Rousseau
6636-566: Was not rich enough to raise his children, but in Book IX of the Confessions he gave the true reasons of his choice: "I trembled at the thought of intrusting them to a family ill brought up, to be still worse educated. The risk of the education of the foundling hospital was much less". Ten years later, Rousseau made inquiries about the fate of his son, but unfortunately no record could be found. When Rousseau subsequently became celebrated as
6720-499: Was on the stage, now that he had seen it mounted. It was the unexampled mix of habitués that surprised visitors, though no-one remarked on the absence of women. Louis, chevalier de Mailly , in Les Entretiens des caffés , 1702, remarked: The cafés are most agreeable places, and ones where one finds all sorts of people of different characters. There one sees fine young gentlemen, agreeably enjoying themselves; there one sees
6804-436: Was paid by the King of Piedmont to help bring Protestants to Catholicism. They sent the boy to Turin , the capital of Savoy (which included Piedmont, in what is now Italy), to complete his conversion. This resulted in his having to give up his Genevan citizenship, although he would later revert to Calvinism to regain it. In converting to Catholicism, both de Warens and Rousseau were likely reacting to Calvinism's insistence on
6888-462: Was penalized for it. Rousseau's father, Isaac Rousseau, followed his grandfather, father and brothers into the watchmaking business. He also taught dance for a short period. Isaac, notwithstanding his artisan status, was well-educated and a lover of music. Rousseau wrote that "A Genevan watchmaker is a man who can be introduced anywhere; a Parisian watchmaker is only fit to talk about watches". In 1699, Isaac ran into political difficulty by entering
6972-522: Was so pleased by the work that he offered Rousseau a lifelong pension. To the exasperation of his friends, Rousseau turned down the great honor, bringing him notoriety as "the man who had refused a king's pension". He also turned down several other advantageous offers, sometimes with a brusqueness bordering on truculence that gave offense and caused him problems. The same year, the visit of a troupe of Italian musicians to Paris, and their performance of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi 's La serva padrona , prompted
7056-409: Was the cousin and houseguest of Rousseau's patroness and landlady Madame d'Épinay , whom he treated rather high-handedly. He resented being at Mme. d'Épinay's beck and call and detested what he viewed as the insincere conversation and shallow atheism of the Encyclopédistes whom he met at her table. Wounded feelings gave rise to a bitter three-way quarrel between Rousseau and Madame d'Épinay; her lover,
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