Nicolas DE CONDORCET

Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet, was a French Enlightenment philosopher, mathematician and politician. Born in Ribemont in 1743, he was one of the greatest defenders of reason, science and human progress. A member of the Académie des sciences, he contributed to the Encyclopédie and played an active part in the French Revolution. Condorcet believed deeply in the perfectibility of man: in his view, education, freedom and knowledge could lead humanity to a better future.

A proponent of human and civil rights, he was also one of the few revolutionaries to defend women's right to vote and the abolition of slavery. Hunted under the Terror, he died in prison in 1794, faithful to his ideas of justice and freedom.

Three anecdotes about Condorcet

1. The mathematician of democracy: Condorcet applied mathematics to politics: he invented a voting system based on individual preferences, known today as the "Condorcet method". This principle is still studied in social choice theory, and inspires some modern electoral systems.
2. The first feminist of the Enlightenment: In 1790, he published a bold text entitled Sur l'admission des femmes au droit de cité, in which he called for political equality between the sexes. At a time when women had no civic rights, this was a revolutionary stance.
3. A mysterious death: Fleeing Paris during the Terror, Condorcet hid with friends, then was arrested at an inn. He was found dead in his cell in Bourg-la-Reine on March 29, 1794. Whether he committed suicide with poison to avoid the guillotine, or was murdered, remains a mystery. His mystery remains unsolved.