born Sept. 17, 1743, Ribemont, France
found dead March 29, 1794, Bourg-la-Reine
French mathematician, statesman, and revolutionary.
He showed early promise as a mathematician and was a protégé of Jean Le Rond d'Alembert . In 1777 he became secretary of the Academy of Sciences. In sympathy with the French Revolution, he was elected to represent Paris in the Legislative Assembly (179192), where he called for a republic. His opposition to the arrest of the moderate Girondin s led to his being outlawed (1792). While in hiding he wrote his famous Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind , in which he advanced the idea of the continuous progress of the human race to an ultimate perfection. He was captured and subsequently found dead in prison.