Charles-Joseph Mathon de La Cour

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Charles-Joseph Mathon de La Cour (born October 6, 1738 in Lyon ; † November 15, 1793 ibid) was a French economist , author and philanthropist , as well as the founder and editor of several periodicals .

biography

Mathon was the son of the mathematician and mechanic Jacques Mathon de La Cour . Nothing is known about his early years. Mathon went to Paris to study. There he met Claude-Sixte Sautreau de Marsy with whom he published the Almanach des muses from 1765 . In 1767 Mathon completed his dissertation at the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres with distinction, which was awarded a prize by the Académie. At another Académie competition, he was awarded a prize for the second time. Through his brother-in-law, the poet Antoine-Marin Lemierre , he also got to know many artists and writers in Paris who profited greatly from his generosity.

In 1777 he was called back to Lyon because his father had died. There he worked on the refinement of his literary skills and felt called to work for the common good. He had it checked how water from the Rhone could be channeled into all parts of Lyons to supply drinking water. Then he campaigned for lower bread prices and for better care for breastfeeding mothers and for a children's home. He even neglected his own concerns and thought more of the others. This went so far that he took out loans himself that he could hardly service with his income.

Mathon's work is diverse. He dealt with topics of economy, published art reviews and dealt with topics such as human rights, slavery and freedom of speech. But he also wrote prose and poetry. Mathon was then also a founding member of the Société philanthropique, founded in 1780 . In the same year he was also appointed a member of the Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Lyon .

Mathon sympathized with the ideas of the French Revolution . That is why it was received with astonishment when he wrote to the editorial staff of a revolutionary political journal in 1789, proposing that Lyon be made the capital and the king relocated there. Only Antoine de Rivarol found the idea captivating.

After the siege of Lyons in February 1793, only Joseph Chalier became chairman of the local council. He fell victim to the first purges and was executed in May of the same year. Mathon took his place and was well aware of the danger that this position entailed, but decided not to leave Lyon and not to abandon his fellow citizens. Despite his good reputation as a benefactor, he was indicted and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Mathon was guillotined on the day of the judgment .

There is an exchange of words between Antoine Dorfeuille and Mathon when the decree that was to mean his death was passed:

" Tu étais noble, lui dit le président Dorfeuille, tu n'as pas quitté Lyon pendant le siège; lis le décret, tu peux prononcer toi même sur ton sort. Ll est sûr, répondit Mathon, que cette loi m'atteint, et je saurai mourir "

Translated: " You were honorable, said the chairman Dorfeuille, you did not leave Lyon during the siege; read the decree, you can see for yourself. I see, said Mathon, that this decree concerns me and I will die "

literature

Creation (excerpt)

Individual works

  • Collection de comptes-rendus, pièces authentiques, écrits et tableaux concertant les finances de la France depuis 1758 jusqu'en 1789 , 4 volumes, Paris, 1788
  • Sur le patriotisme dans une monarchie , Paris, 1788
  • Discours sur le patriotisme français , Lyon 1762
  • Lettres sur les peintres sculptures et gravures exposées au salon du Louvre , 3 volumes, Paris, 1763/1765/1767
  • Orphée et Euridice , translation of the opera from Italian, Paris, 1765
  • Sur le danger de la lecture des livres contre la religion , Paris, 1770
  • Testament de Fortuné Ricard, maitre d'arithmetique , Lyon, 1782
  • De la traite et de l'esclavage des nègres , Lyon, 1790

Periodicals

  • Almanach des Muses , with Claude-Sixte Sautreau de Marsy, 10 editions from 1765
  • Journal de Musique , 1764 to 1768
  • Journal des Dames , from 1759
  • Journal de Lyon , 12 issues from 1784

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mathon de La Cour, Charles-Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French economist, philanthropist and author
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1738
PLACE OF BIRTH Lyon
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1793
Place of death Lyon