Jean-Jacques Rousseau statue, Geneva

The noted French philosopher Rousseau [1712-1778] was actually born in an adjacent country. His actual birthplace lies in the heart of the 'new' city of Geneva, and is covered by one of the largest department stores. However, Rousseau is commemorated by this statue on an island just off the shore, an easy walk from downtown. Rousseau's many contributions are summed up thus: He was a "major philosopher, literary figure, and composer of the Enlightenment whose political philosophy influenced the French Revolution and the development of liberal, conservative and socialist theory. With his Confessions, Reveries of a Solitary Walker and other writings, he invented modern autobiography and encouraged a new focus on the building of subjectivity that bore fruit in the work of thinkers as diverse as Hegel and Freud. His novel Julie, ou la nouvelle H??lo?Èse was one of the best-selling fictional works of the eighteenth century and was important to the development of romanticism. Rousseau made important contributions to music as a theorist and a composer." [From Wikipedia entry]

Welch, Claude Emerson

State University of New York at Buffalo

spring 1994

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Box 4

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French

Swiss

Geneva

7/10/2007

Welch-Ludwig Collection

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