Louis Necker

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Portrait de Louis Necker (de Germany) .jpg

Louis Necker (de Germany) (born August 31, 1730 in Geneva ; † July 31, 1804 in Cologny ) was a Geneva physicist and encyclopaedist .

Live and act

His father was Karl Friedrich Necker (1686–1762) from Küstrin in Brandenburg (now Poland ), a professor of law who, after the publication of some writings on international law, was appointed professor of public law at the University of Geneva and finally with his family Bürger the Republic of Geneva became. His mother was Jeanne Gautier (* 1692), she had been married to him since January 7, 1726. The couple had two children, Louis Necker and Jacques Necker .

He was the elder brother of the statesman Jacques Necker . Louis Necker studied mathematics at the Geneva Academy, Académie de Genève . He finished his studies in philosophy in 1747 with a thesis on electricity. This was followed by a degree in law, which he completed in 1751. He later became governor of the Princes of Nassau-Weilburg and Lippe-Detmold during their stay in Geneva and received a pension for young Englishmen from his father, Charles Frederick, a lawyer and law professor at the Geneva College. On August 28, 1752 he married Isabelle André (1731–1759). The couple had a son, Jacques Necker (1757-1825).

In addition, he worked as a private tutor in the pension for young Englishmen in Geneva, which his father Charles Fréderic Necker ran. In 1752 he acquired the physics laboratory of Jean Jallaberts (1712–1768). From 1756 to 1767 he was a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences . In 1757 he was appointed professor of mathematics and experimental physics at the Académie de Genève , but had to resign from this position due to a private scandal in late 1760 / early 1761. In 1761 he fled to Paris, where he began to work at his brother's Banque Girardot .

In 1762 he moved to Marseille , where he founded a trading house. From 1772 to 1794 he worked exclusively as a banker in the Banque Girardot. His brother Jacques Necker, who was friends with Jean le Rond d'Alembert from 1756 , brought him together with the encyclopedists. From 1776 he was envoy of Geneva in France. He was a member of the Masonic lodge La Vraie Concorde (German translated "To true harmony").

He edited the Forces & Frottement articles for the Encyclopédie .

Works (selection)

  • De Electricitate. 1747

literature

  • Ferdinand Hoefer: Nouvelle biography générale. t. 37, Firmin-Didot, Paris 1863, pp. 575-576

Web links

Wikisource: Louis Necker  - Sources and full texts (French)

Literature by and about Louis Necker in the SUDOC catalog (Association of French University Libraries)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to other documents, the year of birth was 1732; see also the younger brother's date of birth.
  2. ^ A b René Sigrist: Louis Necker de Germany. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . December 29, 2008 , accessed July 2, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Frank A. Kafker: Notices sur les auteurs of 17 volumes de "discours" de l'Encyclopédie (suite et fin). Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie Année 1990 Volume 8 Numéro 8 p. 107
  4. ^ Genealogy of the Necker family
  5. ^ Jean Senebier: Histoire littéraire de Genève. Volume 3 Barde, Manget, Genève 1786, p. 145
personal data
SURNAME Necker, Louis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Louis Necker de Germaine; Necker, Ludovicus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss physicist, banker and encyclopaedist
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1730
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 1804
Place of death Cologny