A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations Part 10

Diderot (Denis), French philosopher, b. Langres, 6 Oct. 1713. His father, a cutler, intended him for the Church. Educated by Jesuits, at the age of twelve he received the tonsure. He had a pa.s.sion for books, but, instead of becoming a Jesuit, went to Paris, where he supported himself by teaching and translating. In 1746 he published Philosophic Thoughts, which was condemned to be burnt. It did much to advance freedom of opinion. Three years later his Letters on the Blind occasioned his imprisonment at Vincennes for its materialistic Atheism. Rousseau, who called him "a transcendent genius," visited Diderot in prison, where he remained three years. Diderot projected the famous Encyclopedie, which he edited with Alembert, and he contributed some of the most important articles. With very inadequate recompense, and amidst difficulties that would have appalled an ordinary editor, Diderot superintended the undertaking for many years (1751-65). He also contributed to other important works, such as Raynal's Philosophic History, L'Esprit, by Helvetius, and The System of Nature and other works of his friend D'Holbach. Diderot's fertile mind also produced dramas, essays, sketches, and novels. Died 30 July, 1784. Comte calls Diderot "the greatest thinker of the eighteenth century."

Diercks (Gustav), German author of able works on the History of the Development of Human Spirit (Berlin, 1881-2) and on Arabian Culture in Spain, 1887. Is a member of the German Freethinkers' Union.

Dilke (Ashton Wentworth), b. 1850. Educated at Cambridge, travelled in Russia and Central Asia, and published a translation of Turgenev's Virgin Soil. He purchased and edited the Weekly Dispatch; was returned as M.P. for Newcastle in 1880, but, owing to ill health, resigned in favor of John Morley, and died at Algiers 12 March, 1883.

Dinter (Gustav Friedrich), German educationalist, b. Borna, near Leipsic, 29 Feb. 1760. His Bible for Schoolmasters is his best-known work. It sought to give rational notes and explanations of the Jew books, and excited much controversy. Died at Konigsberg, 29 May, 1831.

Dippel (Johann Konrad), German alchemist and physician, b. 10 Aug. 1672, at Frankenstein, near Darmstadt. His Papismus vapulans Protestantium (1698) drew on him the wrath of the theologians of Giessen, and he had to flee for his life. Attempting to find out the philosopher's stone, he discovered Prussian blue. In 1705 he published his satires against the Protestant Church, Hirt und eine Heerde, under the name of Christia.n.u.s Democritos. He denied the inspiration of the Bible, and after an adventurous life in many countries died 25 April, 1734.

Dobrolyubov (Nikolai Aleksandrovich), Russian author, b. 1836, at Nijni Novgorod, the son of a priest. Educated at St. Petersburg, he became a radical journalist. His works were edited in four vols. by Chernuishevsky. Died 17 Nov. 1861.

Dodel-Port (Prof. Arnold), Swiss scientist, b. Affeltrangen, Thurgau, 16 Oct. 1843. Educated at Kreuzlingen, he became in '63 teacher in the Oberschule in Hauptweil; then studied from '64-'69 at Geneva, Zurich, and Munich, becoming privat docent in the University of Zurich, '70. In '75 he published The New History of Creation. In '78 he issued his world-famous Botanical Atlas, and was in '80 made Professor of Botany in the Zurich University and Director of the Botanical Laboratory. He has also written Biological Fragments (1885), the Life and Letters of Konrad Deubler, "the peasant philosopher"

(1886), and has just published Moses or Darwin? a School Question, 1889. Dr. Dodel-Port is an hon. member of the London Royal Society and Vice-President of the German Freethinkers' Union.

Dodwell (Henry), eldest son of the theologian of that name, was b. Shottesbrooke, Berks.h.i.+re, about the beginning of the eighteenth century. He was educated at Magdalen Hall, when he proceeded B.A., 9 Feb. 1726. In '42 he published a pamphlet ent.i.tled Christianity not Founded on Argument, which in a tone of grave irony contends that Christianity can only be accepted by faith. He was brought up to the law and was a zealous friend of the Society for the Promotion of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Died 1784.

Doebereiner (Johann Wolfgang), German chemist, b. Bavaria, 15 Dec. 1780. In 1810 he became Professor of Chemistry at Jena, where he added much to science. Died 24 March, 1849. He was friend and instructor to Goethe.

Dolet (Etienne), a learned French humanist, b. Orleans 3 Aug. 1509. He studied in Paris, Padua and Venice. For his heresy he had to fly from Toulouse and lived for some time at Lyons, where he established a printing-press and published some of his works, for which he was imprisoned. He was acquainted with Rabelais, Des Periers, and other advanced men of the time. In 1543 the Parliament condemned his books to be burnt, and in the next year he was arrested on a charge of Atheism. After being kept two years in prison he was strangled and burnt, 3 Aug. 1546. It is related that seeing the sorrow of the crowd, he said: "Non dolet ipe Dolet, sed pia turba dolet."--Dolet grieves not, but the generous crowd grieves. His goods being confiscated, his widow and children were left to beggary. "The French language,"

says A. F. Didot, "owes him much for his treatises, translations, and poesies." Dolet's biographer, M. Joseph Boulmier, calls him "le Christ de la pensee libre." Philosophy has alone the right, says Henri Martin, to claim Dolet on its side. His English biographer, R. C. Christie, says he was "neither a Catholic nor a Protestant."

Dominicis (Saverio Fausto de), Italian Positivist philosopher, b. Buonalbergo, 1846. Is Professor of Philosophy at Bari, and has written on Education and Darwinism.

Dondorf (Dr. A.), See Anderson (Marie) in Supplement.

Doray de Longrais (Jean Paul), French man of letters. b. Manvieux, 1736. Author of a Freethought romance, Faustin, or the Philosophical Age. Died at Paris, 1800.

Dorsch (Eduard), German American Freethinker, b. Warzburg 10 Jan. 1822. He studied at Munich and Vienna. In '49 he went to America and settled in Monroe, Michigan, where he published a volume of poems, some being translations from Swinburne. Died 10 Jan. 1887.

Dorsey (J. M.), author of the The True History of Moses, and others, an attack on the Bible, published at Boston in 1855.

Draparnaud (Jacques Philippe Raymond), French doctor, b. 3 June, 1772, at Montpelier, where he became Professor of Natural History. His discourses on Life and Vital Functions, and on the Philosophy of the Sciences and Christianity (1801), show his scepticism. Died 1 Feb. 1805.

Draper (John William), scientist and historian, b. St. Helens, near Liverpool, 5 May 1811. The son of a Wesleyan minister, he was educated at London University. In '32 he emigrated to America, where he was Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in New York University. He was one of the inventors of photography and the first who applied it to astronomy. He wrote many scientific works, notably on Human Physiology. His history of the American Civil War is an important work, but he is chiefly known by his History of the Intellectual Development of Europe and History of the Conflict of Religion and Science, which last has gone through many editions and been translated into all the princ.i.p.al languages. Died 4 Jan. 1882.

Dreyfus (Ferdinand Camille), author of an able work on the Evolution of Worlds and Societies, 1888.

Droysen (Johann Gustav), German historian, b. Treptoir, 6 July, 1808. Studied at Berlin; wrote in the Hallische Jahrbucher; was Professor of History at Keil, 1840; Jena '51 and Berlin '59. Has edited Frederick the Great's Correspondence, and written other important works, some in conjunction with his friend Max Duncker. Died 15 June, 1882.

Drummond (Sir William), of Logie Almond, antiquary and author, b. about 1770; entered Parliament as member for St. Mawes, Cornwall, 1795. In the following year he became envoy to the court of Naples, and in 1801 amba.s.sador to Constantinople. His princ.i.p.al work is Origines, or Remarks on the Origin of several Empires, States, and Cities (4 vols. 1824-29). He also printed privately The OEdipus Judaicus, 1811. It calls in question, with much boldness and learning, many legends of the Old Testament, to which it gave an astronomical signification. It was reprinted in '66. Sir William Drummond also wrote anonymously Philosophical Sketches of the Principles of Society, 1795. Died at Rome, 29 March, 1828.

Duboc (Julius) German writer and doctor of philosophy b. Hamburg, 10 Oct. 1829. Educated at Frankfurt and Giessen, is a clever journalist, and has translated the History of the English Press. Has written an Atheistic work, Das Leben Ohne Gott (Life without G.o.d), with the motto from Feuerbach "No religion is my religion, no philosophy my philosophy," 1875. He has also written on the Psychology of Love, and other important works.

Dubois (Pierre), a French sceptic, who in 1835 published The True Catechism of Believers--a work ordered by the Court of a.s.sizes to be suppressed, and for which the author (Sept. '35) was condemned to six months' imprisonment and a fine of one thousand francs. He also wrote The Believer Undeceived, or Evident Proofs of the Falsity and Absurdity of Christianity; a work put on the Index in '36.

Du Bois-Reymond (Emil), biologist, of Swiss father and French mother, b. Berlin, 7 Nov. 1818. He studied at Berlin and Bonn for the Church, but left it to follow science, '37. Has become famous as a physiologist, especially by his Researches in Animal Electricity, '48-60. With Helmholtz he has done much to establish the new era of positive science, wrongly called by opponents Materialism. Du Bois-Reymond holds that thought is a function of the brain and nervous system, and that "soul" has arisen as the gradual results of natural combinations, but in his Limits of the Knowledge of Nature, '72, he contends that we must always come to an ultimate incomprehensible. Du Bois-Reymond has written on Voltaire and Natural Science, '68; La Mettrie, '75; Darwin versus Galiani, '78; and Frederick II. and Rousseau, '79. Since '67 he has been perpetual secretary of the Academy of Sciences, Berlin.

Dubuisson (Paul Ulrich), French dramatist and revolutionary, b. Lauat, 1746. A friend of Cloots he suffered with him on the scaffold, 24 March, 1794.

Dubuisson (Paul), living French Positivist, author of Grand Types of Humanity.

Du Chatelet Lomont. See Chastelet.

Duclos (Charles Pinot), witty French writer, b. Dinan, 12 Feb. 1704. He was admitted into the French Academy, 1747 and became its secretary, 1755. A friend of Diderot and d'Alembert. His Considerations sur les Moeurs is still a readable work. Died 27 March, 1772.

Ducos (Jean Francois), French Girondist, b. Bordeaux in 1765. Elected to the Legislative a.s.sembly, he, on the 26th Oct. 1791, demanded the complete separation of the State from religion. He shared the fate of the Girondins, 31 Oct. 1793, crying with his last breath, "Vive la Republique!"

Du Deffand (Marie), Marchioness, witty literary Frenchwoman, b. 1697. Chamfort relates that when young and in a convent she preached irreligion to her young comrades. The abbess called in Ma.s.sillon, to whom the little sceptic gave her reasons. He went away saying "She is charming." Her house in Paris was for fifty years the resort of eminent authors and statesmen. She corresponded for many years with Horace Walpole, D'Alembert and Voltaire. Many anecdotes are told of her; thus, to the Cardinal de Polignac, who spoke of the miracle of St. Denis walking when beheaded, she said "Il n'y a que le premier pas qui coute." Died 24 Sept. 1780. To the cure of Saint Sulpice, who came to her death-bed, she said "Ni questions, ni raisons, ni sermons." Larousse calls her "Belle, instruite, spirituelle mais sceptique et materialiste."

Dudgeon (William), a Berwicks.h.i.+re Deist, whose works were published (privately printed at Edinburgh) in 1765.

Dudnevant (A. L. A. Dupin), Baroness. See Sand (Georges).

Duehring (Eugen Karl), German writer, b. Berlin, 12 Jan. 1833; studied law. He has, though blind, written many works on science and political economy, also a Critical History of Philosophy, '69-78, and Science Revolutionized, '78. In Oct. 1879, his death was maliciously reported.

Dulaure (Jacques Antoine), French archaeologist and historian, b. Clermont-Ferrand, 3 Dec. 1755. In 1788-90 he published six volumes of a description of France. He wrote many pamphlets, including one on the private lives of ecclesiastics. Elected to the Convention in 1792, he voted for the death of the King. Proscribed as a Girondist, Sept. 1793, he fled to Switzerland. He was one of the Council of Five Hundred, 1796-98. Dulaure wrote a learned Treatise on Superst.i.tions, but he is best known by his History of Paris, and his Short History of Different Wors.h.i.+ps, 1825, in which he deals with ancient fetis.h.i.+sm and phallic wors.h.i.+p. Died Paris, 9 Aug. 1835.

Dulaurens (Henri Joseph). French satirist, b. Douay, 27 March, 1719. He was brought up in a convent, and made a priest 12 Nov. 1727. Published a satire against the Jesuits, 1761, he was compelled to fly to Holland, where he lived in poverty. He edited L'Evangile de la Raison, a collection of anti-Christian tracts by Voltaire and others, and wrote L'Antipapisme revele in 1767. He was in that year condemned to perpetual imprisonment for heresy, and shut in the convent of Mariabaum, where he died 1797. Dulaurens was caustic, cynical and vivacious. He is also credited with the Portfolios of a Philosopher, mostly taken from the a.n.a.lysis of Bayle, Cologne, 1770.

Dulk (Albert Friedrich Benno), German poet and writer, b. Konigsberg, 17 June, 1819; he became a physician, but was expelled for aiding in the Revolution of '48. He travelled in Italy and Egypt. In '65 he published Jesus der Christ, embodying rationalism in prose and verse. He has also written Stimme der Menschheit, 2 vols., '76, '80, and Der Irrgang des Lebens Jesu, '84, besides numerous plays and pamphlets. Died 29 Oct. 1884.

Dumont (Leon), French writer, b. Valenciennes, 1837. Studied for the bar, but took to philosophy and literature. He early embraced Darwinism, and wrote on Haeckel and the Theory of Evolution, '73. He wrote in La Revue Philosophique, and other journals. Died Valenciennes, 17 Jan. 1877.

Dumarsais (Cesar Chesneau), French grammarian and philosopher, b. Ma.r.s.eilles, 17 July, 1676. When young he entered the congregation of the oratory. This society he soon quitted, and went to Paris, where he married. A friend of Boindin and Alembert, he wrote against the pretensions of Rome and contributed to the Encyclopedie. He is credited with An a.n.a.lysis of the Christian Religion and with the celebrated Essai sur les Prejuges, par Mr. D. M., but the latter was probably written by Holbach, with notes by Naigeon. Le Philosophe, published in L'Evangile de la Raison by Dulaurens, was written by Voltaire. Died 11 June, 1756. Dumarsais was very simple in character, and was styled by D'Alembert the La Fontaine of philosophers.

Dumont (Pierre Etienne Louis), Swiss writer, b. Geneva, 18 July, 1759. Was brought up as a minister, but went to France and became secretary to Mirabeau. After the Revolution he came to England, where he became acquainted with Bentham, whose works he translated. Died Milan, 29 Sept. 1829.

Duncker (Maximilian Wolfgang), German historian, b. Berlin, 15 Oct. 1811. His chief work, the History of Antiquity, 1852-57, thoroughly abolishes the old distinction of sacred and profane history, and freely criticises the Jewish records. A translation in six volumes has been made by E. Abbot. Duncker took an active part in the events of '48 and '50, and was appointed Director-General of the State Archives. Died 24 July, 1886.

Dupont (Jacob Louis), a French mathematician and member of the National Convention, known as the Abbe Dupont, who, 14 Dec. 1792, declared himself an Atheist from the tribune of the Convention. Died at Paris in 1813.

Dupont de Nemours (Pierre Samuel), French economist, b. Paris, 14 Dec. 1739. He became President of the Const.i.tuent a.s.sembly, and was a Theophilantrophist. Died Delaware, U.S.A., 6 Aug. 1817.

Dupuis (Charles Francois), French astronomer and philosopher, b. Trie-le-Chateau, 16 Oct. 1742. He was educated for the Church, which he left, and married in 1775. He studied under Lalande, and wrote on the origin of the constellations, 1781. In 1788 he became a member of the Academy of Inscriptions. At the Revolution he was chosen a member of the Convention. During the Reign of Terror he saved many lives at his own risk. He was afterwards one of the Council of Five Hundred, and president of the legislative body. His chief work is on the Origin of Religions, 7 vols., 1795, in which he traces solar wors.h.i.+p in various faiths, including Christianity. This has been described as "a monument of the erudition of unbelief." Dupuis died near Dijon, 29 Sept. 1809.

Dutrieux (Pierre Joseph), Belgian physician, b. Tournai, 19 July, 1848. Went to Cairo and became a Bey. Died 1 Jan. 1889.

Dutton (Thomas), M.A., theatrical critic, b. London, 1767. Educated by the Moravians. In 1795 he published a Vindication of the Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. He translated Kotzebue's Pizarro in Peru, 1799, and edited the Dramatic Censor, 1800, and the Monthly Theatrical Reporter, 1815.

Duvernet (Theophile Imarigeon), French writer, b. at Ambert 1730. He was brought up a Jesuit, became an Abbe, but mocked at religion. Duvernet became tutor to Saint Simon. For a political pamphlet he was imprisoned in the Bastille. While here he wrote a curious and rare romance, Les Devotions de Mme. de Bethzamooth. He wrote on Religious Intolerance, 1780, and a History of the Sorbonne, 1790, but is best known by his Life of Voltaire (1787). In 1793 he wrote a letter to the Convention, in which he declares that he renounces the religion "born in a stable between an ox and an a.s.s." Died in 1796.

Dyas (Richard H.), captain in the army. Author of The Upas. He resided long in Italy and translated several of the works of C. Voysey.

Eaton (Daniel Isaac), bookseller, b. about 1752, was educated at the Jesuits' College, St. Omer. Being advised to study the Bible, he did so, with the result of discarding it as a revelation. In 1792 he was prosecuted for publis.h.i.+ng Paine's Rights of Man, but the prosecution fell through. He afterwards published Politics for the People, which was also prosecuted, 1793, as was his Political Dictionary, 1796. To escape punishment, he fled to America, and lived there for three years and a half. Upon returning to England, his person and property were seized. Books to the value of 2,800 were burnt, and he was imprisoned for fifteen months. He translated from Helvetius and sold at his "Rationcinatory or Magazine for Truths and Good Sense," 8 Cornhill, in 1810, The True Sense and Meaning of the System of Nature. The Law of Nature had been previously translated by him. In '11 he issued the first and second parts of Paine's Age of Reason, and on 6 March, '12, was tried before Lord Ellenborough on a charge of blasphemy for issuing the third and last part. He was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment and to stand in the pillory. The sentence evoked Sh.e.l.ley's spirited Letter to Lord Ellenborough. Eaton translated and published Freret's Preservative against Religious Prejudices, 1812, and shortly before his death, at Deptford, 22 Aug. 1814, he was again prosecuted for publis.h.i.+ng George Houston's Ecce h.o.m.o.

Eberhard (Johann August), German Deist, b. Halberstadt, 31 Aug. 1739, was brought up in the church, but persecuted for heresy in his New Apology for Socrates, 1772, was patronised by Frederick the Great, and appointed Professor of Philosophy at Halle, where he opposed the idealism of Kant and Fichte. He wrote a History of Philosophy, 1788. Died Halle, 7 Jan. 1809.

Eberty (Gustav), German Freethinker, b. 2 July, 1806. Author of some controversial works. Died Berlin, 10 Feb. 1887.