Sylvain Maréchal

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Sylvain Maréchal

Sylvain Maréchal (actually Pierre-Sylvain Maréchal ; born August 15, 1750 in Paris , † January 18, 1803 in Montrouge ) was a French poet , philosopher and creator of the Maréchal calendar . He is considered a late enlightener , representative of atheism and pioneer of anarchism .

Life

Sylvain Maréchal, the son of a wine merchant, studied law in Paris and later became a lawyer . The success of his idyllic collection, Bergeries , which he published at the age of 20, enabled him to work as an assistant librarian at the Collège Mazarin in Paris . Through his work in the library he acquired considerable knowledge and particularly valued the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Voltaire , Helvétius and Denis Diderot .

Maréchal developed the idea of ​​an agrarian socialism with collective ownership of goods . His ideal of a cult of reason and his criticism of religion and absolutism ultimately led to his discharge from college . He was later sentenced to four months in prison after publishing the Almanach des Honnêtes Gens . In it he developed the so-called Maréchal calendar , a secular calendar in which he replaced the names of Christian saints with famous personalities from history. After his arrest, he became more cautious and only published anonymously to avoid prosecution .

He enthusiastically supported the French Revolution and stood up especially for the poor. Maréchal took part in the Gracchus Babeuf plot , but later escaped punishment. As editor of the newspaper Révolutions de Paris , he campaigned for the liberation of man from all forms of slavery and saw religion as an instrument of governments for the economic exploitation of people. In the Manifeste des Égaux he wrote:

"Disappear at last, you outrageous differences between rich and poor, big and small, between master and slave, ruler and ruled."

- Sylvain Maréchal : Manifests des Égaux .

Since Sylvain Maréchal published his texts anonymously, he could continue to devote himself to writing until his death in 1803.

Works

  • Bergeries. 1770.
  • Chansons anacréontiques. 1770.
  • Essais de poésies légères suivis d'un songe. 1775.
  • Fragments d'un poème moral sur Dieu. 1780.
  • Dieu et les prêtres. 1781.
  • Fragments d'un poème philosophique. 1781.
  • L'Âge d'Or. 1782.
  • Livre échappé du déluge. 1784.
  • Almanac des Honnêtes Gens. 1788.
  • Apologues modern, à l'usage d'un dauphin. 1788.
  • Dame Nature à la barre de l'Assemblée nationale. 1791.
  • Jugement dernier des rois. 1793.
  • Manifestos des Égaux. 1801.
  • Pensées libres sur les prêtres. 1798.
  • Le Lucrèce Français. 1798.
  • Culte et lois d'une société d'hommes sans Dieu. 1798.
  • Les Voyages de Pythagore. 1799.
  • Dictionnaire des Athées anciens et modern. 1800. (Reprint, edited by Jean-Pierre Jackson, Editions Coda, Paris 2008)
  • Pour et contre la Bible. 1801.

literature

  • Erica Joy Mannucci: Finalmente il popolo pensa: Sylvain Maréchal nell'immagine della rivoluzione francese . Guida Editori, Napoli 2012, ISBN 978-88-6666-181-8 .

Web links

Wikiquote: Sylvain Maréchal  - Quotes

notes

  1. ^ German in Fritz Kool (also: Frits K.), Werner Krause (Hrsg.): The early socialists. Vol. 2: Documents of the World Revolution. (= Scientific series ). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag dtv, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-423-04102-1 . Inlet Peter Stadler ; first Walter, Olten 1967; again Gutenberg Book Guild in 1968; German extracts in Martin Morgenstern , Robert Zimmer (ed.): State foundations and historical meanings. Series Meeting Point Philosophy, 4: "Political Philosophy". Bayerischer Schulbuch Verlag BSV, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-7627-0325-6 & Patmos, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-491-75641-3 , p. 44f.
personal data
SURNAME Maréchal, Sylvain
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maréchal, Pierre-Sylvain
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French poet and philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1750
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1803
Place of death Montrouge