Louis Moréri facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Louis Moréri
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Louis Moréri, frontispiece, etching by Gerard Edelinck after a drawing by De Troyes, 17th century
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| Born | 25 March 1643 Bargemon, France
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| Died | 10 July 1680 (aged 37) |
Louis Moréri (born March 25, 1643 – died July 10, 1680) was a French priest and a person who created encyclopedias. An encyclopedist is someone who writes or puts together an encyclopedia, which is a big book or set of books filled with facts and information on many different topics.
Contents
The Life of Louis Moréri
Early Life and Education
Louis Moréri was born in 1643 in a small village called Bargemon in Provence, France. When he was young, he studied subjects like history and literature in Draguignan. Later, he went to the Jesuit College in Aix-en-Provence to study writing and thinking.
After that, he studied theology, which is the study of religious faith. He earned a special degree called a doctorate. Then, he became a priest in Lyon, a city in France.
Starting His Big Project
While living in Lyon, Louis Moréri wrote several books. One of them was a translation of a work by a Spanish writer. It was also in Lyon that he met a man named Samuel Chappuzeau. Chappuzeau is said to have given Moréri the idea to write his very own encyclopedia.
Life in Paris and His Final Work
In 1675, after his first encyclopedia was published, Moréri moved to Paris. There, he met an important government official named Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne. A few years later, Moréri was hired to teach Pomponne's children.
During this time, he worked hard on a second, bigger version of his encyclopedia. Sadly, in 1680, while the second edition was still being printed, Louis Moréri became very sick with tuberculosis and passed away. He was only 37 years old.
Moréri's Big Book: The Encyclopedia
What Was His Encyclopedia About?
Louis Moréri's most famous work was his encyclopedia, called Le Grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane. This long title means The Great Historical Dictionary, or Curious Collection of Sacred and Secular History. It was first published in Lyon in 1674.
This encyclopedia was special because it focused mostly on history and biographies (stories about people's lives). Moréri dedicated his first encyclopedia to the Bishop of Apt, who was a religious leader he worked for.
How His Work Inspired Others
Even after Moréri died, his encyclopedia continued to be very popular. Other people updated and added to it. Between 1674 and 1759, at least 24 different versions were published! It started as one book and grew to ten books. It was also translated into English, German, Dutch, and Spanish.
Moréri's Grand Dictionaire historique was so important that it inspired another very famous encyclopedia. This was Pierre Bayle's The Historical and Critical Dictionary, published in 1697. Bayle created his work to correct and improve upon some parts of Moréri's original encyclopedia.
See also
In Spanish: Louis Moréri para niños
