Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle is remembered for writing that changed what came after it.
The record lists Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle as French writer and philosopher of the enlightenment (1657–1757).
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle was born at Rouen in 1657. His recorded nationality is France. He was educated at Lycée Pierre-Corneille.
This was a period of expanding print and contested censorship, when writing became a public act with consequences.
He worked as philosopher, poet and writer.
The writing is recorded in French.
Among his best-known works are Dialogue of the Dead, Histoire des oracles and De l'origine des fables. Reputation in letters is unusually volatile: writers are forgotten for a generation and then recovered by one.
That the work was written from France matters: language, censorship and the reach of a publishing industry decide which books travel and which stay local.
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle died in 1757, aged 100. The books remain, which is the only durable form a writing life takes.
Achievements
- Notable work: Dialogue of the Dead
- Notable work: Histoire des oracles
- Notable work: De l'origine des fables
- Notable work: Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds
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