Denis Diderot was born here in 1713, at number 9 on the square that now bears his name. Born into a family of cutlers, he studied at the nearby Jesuit college before moving to Paris at the age of fifteen. An eclectic and prolific writer, he ventured into all genres: philosophy, novels, theatre and art criticism. Criticising intolerance and rejecting the authority of traditional morality, he fought - along with others - for the triumph of Reason and the universality of human happiness. His masterly and astonishingly modern work is the Encyclopédie. Along with d'Alembert, Diderot was the relentless driving force behind this monument to human knowledge for more than two decades.
No visits: private site only visible from the outside.
Maison natale de Denis Diderot
