Marquis de Condorcet

Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet French: ; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794, requested as Nicolas de Condorcet, was the French philosopher as alive as mathematician. His ideas, including help for the liberal economy, free & equal public instruction, constitutional government, & equal rights for women and people of all races, construct been said to embody the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, of which he has been called the "last witness," and Enlightenment rationalism. He died in prison after a period of flight from French Revolutionary authorities.

Family

In 1786 Condorcet married Sophie de Grouchy, who was more than twenty years his junior. Sophie, reckoned one of the most beautiful women of the day, became an accomplished salon hostess as Madame de Condorcet, and also an accomplished translator of Thomas Paine and Adam Smith. She was clever and living educated, fluent in both English and Italian. The marriage was a strong one, and Sophie visited her husband regularly while he remained in hiding. Although she began proceedings for divorce in January 1794, it was at the insistence of Condorcet and Cabanis, who wished to protect their property from expropriation and to afford financially for Sophie and their young daughter, Louise 'Eliza' Alexandrine.

Condorcet was survived by his widow and four-year-old Eliza. Sophie died in 1822, never having remarried, and having published any her husband's works between 1801 and 1804. Her score was carried on by Eliza, wife of former Arthur O'Connor. The Condorcet-O'Connors published a revised edition between 1847 and 1849.