Jean-Louis Wagnière

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Jean Huber : Voltaire's Morning . Voltaire dictates to Wagnière when he gets dressed in the morning

Jean-Louis Wagnière (born October 15, 1739 in Rueyres , Canton Vaud , † April 7, 1802 in Ferney-Voltaire , France ) was the French philosopher's most important secretary from 1756 until Voltaire's death in 1778 .

Life in the service of Voltaire

Wagnière was born in 1739 as the son of the headmaster of the school for the poor in Yverdon . In 1755, shortly after settling in Prangins in the Lake Geneva region , he joined Voltaire as a valet . He followed him to his country estate Délices near Geneva and then to Ferney (now Ferney-Voltaire). In 1756 Voltaire fired his secretary Cosimo Alessandro Collini and hired Wagnière as his successor, giving him some Latin lessons. Wagnière was characterized by inexhaustible ability to work, a clear handwriting and unconditional honesty and was thus able to act in Voltaire's last 24 years as his preferred secretary, librarian, accountant, manager of the Ferney estate and personnel manager, who also received the countless visitors of his employer. He valued his services and called him the "faithful Wagnière".

After Voltaire's death on May 30, 1778, Wagnière received an order from the Russian Empress Catherine II through Melchior Grimm to bring Voltaire's library with over 6,800 volumes, which the Empress had acquired from Voltaire's heiress Marie-Louise Denis, to Sankt Petersburg and inventory, where it is still located in the rooms of the National Library to this day . The following year, Wagnière returned to Ferney, was mayor of the village from 1792 to 1794 and supported the French Revolution . He also wrote four biographical reports on Voltaire, which were published in Paris in 1826.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Correspondance Voltaire

literature

  • Christophe Paillard: Jean-Louis Wagnière ou les deux morts de Voltaire: correspondance inédite . Foreword by Michel Delon. Saint-Malo, Éditions Cristel, 2005. ISBN 2-84421-037-6

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wagnière, Jean-Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Secretary to the French philosopher Voltaire
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1739
PLACE OF BIRTH Rueyres , Canton of Vaud
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1802
Place of death Ferney-Voltaire , France