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Jefferson's Influential International Social Network

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Jefferson's Influential International Social Network SPRING 2013 www.monticello.org VOLUME 24, NUMBER 1 Thomas Jefferson Jefferson's Influential International Social Network � � William Small Pierre-Samuel Du Pont Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Correspondence from England de Nemours Correspondence from Paris, France Jefferson’s professor of natural phi- Correspondence from France A French chemist who is considered by losophy and mathematics at the College A French political economist, public many to be the “father of modern chemis- of William and Mary who instilled in administrator, and reformer. try,” he helped develop an experimentally Jefferson a lifelong appreciation for based theory of the chemical reactivity science, math, and the Enlightenment of oxygen and coauthored the modern thinkers. Benjamin Franklin system for naming chemical substances. Correspondence from America and France Described as “one of the greatest and the John and Abigail Adams most enlightened and the noblest men Joseph Priestley Correspondence from Massachusetts and Europe the New World had seen born and the Correspondence from England and America Close friends of Jefferson. Adams was an Old World has ever admired,” Franklin An English theologian, prolific politi- American founding father, second presi- was an American printer and publisher, cal theorist, and physical scientist. He is dent of the United States, and a diplomat. author, inventor and scientist, and diplo- among those usually credited with the He was appointed to the committee to mat. He helped Thomas Jefferson draft discovery of oxygen. draft the Declaration of Independence. the Declaration of Independence. In one of the great exchanges between st America’s founders, Adams and Jefferson Sir John Sinclair, 1 Baronet corresponded for half a century about Jean-Antoine Houdon Correspondence from Scotland government, philosophy, religion, and Correspondence from France A politician, writer on finance, and an family. Considered to be the preeminent sculptor influential figure in “improving” Scottish of the French Enlightenment and the art- agriculture and social inquiry. ist who created the 1789 bust of Thomas Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Jefferson when Jefferson was age 46. Caritat, marquis de Condorcet Madame Anne Louise Correspondence from France Germaine de Staël-Holstein Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Tadeusz “Thaddeus” Kosciuszko Correspondence from Paris, France marquis de Condorcet, was a French Correspondence from Poland and America Commonly known as Madame de Staël, philosopher of the Enlightenment, A Polish freedom fighter and engineer she was a woman of letters and a political advocate of educational reform, and one who joined the American cause in the propagandist, and made major contribu- of the main formulators of the French Revolution and later gained even greater tions to Romanticism. Revolution. recognition in defense of his native Poland. Marquis de Lafayette José Corrêia da Serra Correspondence from France Correspondence from Portugal Thomas Paine The Marquis de Lafayette, one of the A Portuguese naturalist and close friend Correspondence from England and America wealthiest men in France, enjoyed a of Jefferson who stayed with him at He “created” the Pennsylvania Magazine military career of international fame. Monticello seven times. A brilliant mem- and wrote Common Sense, the famous Lafayette was a major general during ber of the international brotherhood of political pamphlet that galvanized the American Revolution and the French scientific philosophers Thomas Jefferson support for America’s separation from Revolution. He and Jefferson shared a so valued, he established a reputation as England. Paine’s popular work, written for rich correspondence during this time, a botanist, was an enthusiastic geolo- all to understand, paved the way for the discussing, among other topics, the gist, and helped found the Academy of writing of the Declaration. new University of Virginia, the means of Sciences in Lisbon. maintaining political independence for the republics in South America, and slavery. Monticello is a newsletter published twice yearly by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., the private, nonprofit corporation that has owned and operated Monticello since 1923. Its mission is preservation and education. Questions, comments and address changes should be directed to: Monticello Newsletter, P.O. Box 217, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902; [email protected]; or (434) 984-9822. SPRING 2013 Constantin-François Alexander von Humboldt Chassebœuf, Comte de Volney Correspondence from Germany Correspondence from Paris, France Von Humboldt was a German naturalist A French writer, historian, philosopher, and and explorer who was a major figure in the Middle Eastern explorer who traveled to classical period of physical geography and Egypt and Syria to study history in ancient biogeography. languages. Following his trip, he hand-deliv- ered a Pyramid of Cheops model to Thomas Tsar Alexander I Jefferson. Correspondence to Russia Served as emperor of Russia from 1801 Philip Mazzei to 1825 and the first Russian king of Correspondence from Italy, England, and America Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the Mazzei was a Florentine merchant, surgeon, first Russian grand duke of Finland and horticulturist, correspondent, and friend of Lithuania. After the tsar’s ascension to the Thomas Jefferson for more than 40 years. Russian imperial throne in 1801, Jefferson expressed his optimism that the young ruler represented the values of an enlightened Madame de Tessé monarchy. Correspondence from France The Marquis de Lafayette’s influential aunt by marriage, Madame de Tessé shared Jefferson’s passion for politics and horticul- ture and encouraged his interest in the arts and architecture. 2.
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