Charles-Georges Le Roy
Charles Georges Leroy (born January 22, 1723 in Paris , † November 11, 1789 ibid) was a French writer, encyclopaedist and naturalist during the Enlightenment and author of one of the first books on animal behavior.
life and work
Charles Georges Leroy was a lieutenant in the royal hunts, lieutenant des chasses royales . He was a friend of the encyclopedists Denis Diderot , Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert and Holbach. He regularly attended the salon of Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach , the Coterie holbachique ("Holbach'sche Clique"). This group of people who were close to the Enlightenment (see also thought leaders of the Enlightenment ) met regularly twice a week for dinner at Holbach's to discuss various topics in an open atmosphere. His then place of residence was in the Rue Royale Saint-Roch ; today this street is called Rue de Moulins .
Le Roy defended the positions of Claude Adrien Helvétius . In particular, his materialistic and sensualistic views found his approval, but he relativized the passages critical of religion.
He was said to have had an affair with Basile Geneviève Suzanne d'Holbach (1728–1754). To promote her health, she is said to have received the recommendation to go out for regular rides. Charles-Georges Le Roy offered himself as a companion; As a lieutenant in the royal hunt, he knew all the roads in the royal park.
He was fascinated by Madame de Pompadour's beauty. He wrote an elegy about her eyes: her eyes had a peculiar charm, perhaps because it was so difficult to tell what color they were; they neither have a dark, hard sheen, nor are they the blue eyes of dreamy gentleness, nor are they gray. There are eyes of particular sophistication.
Under the pseudonym physicien de Nuremberg (German: the doctor from Nuremberg ), Le Roy began to publish treatises on the behavior and sensitivity of animals, the last version of which appeared in the Encyclopédie méthodique in 1764 .
Works (selection)
- Lettres philosophiques sur l'intelligence et la perfectibilté des animaux, avec quelques lettres sur l'homme. Paris (1802)
- L'intelligence des animaux. Ibis Press. ( ISBN 2-910728-54-4 )
- Instinct des animaux. From the Encyclopédie méthodique.
literature
- James Van Horn Melton: The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe. Cambridge University Press (2001), p. 130.
- Jean-Claude Bourdin: L'anthropomorphisme de Charles-Georges Leroy chasseur et philosophe. I. L'animal des lumières. Dix-huitième siècle 2010/1 (n ° 42)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Philipp Blom: Evil Philosophers: A Salon in Paris and the Forgotten Legacy of the Enlightenment. Hanser, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-446-23648-6
- ↑ Philipp Blom: Evil Philosophers: A Salon in Paris and the Forgotten Legacy of the Enlightenment. Hanser, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-446-23648-6 , p. 212 ff.
- ↑ Gossip Fashion and Scandal in the 1750's-1800's ( Memento from July 12, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Le Roy, Charles-Georges |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Leroy, Charles Georges |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French man of letters, encyclopaedist and naturalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 22, 1723 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 11, 1789 |
| Place of death | Paris |