Writers of the Enlightenment
The atlas holds 36 people and 671 moments here, from 1685 to 1815. The most recorded lives are Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Voltaire and Jane Austen.
Notable people
Abraham Lincoln
from 1809 to 1811
2 moments here
American lawyer, Illinois legislator, congressman, and sixteenth president of the United States.…
Adam Smith
from 1723 to 1790
25 moments here
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist of the Scottish Enlightenment, author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the…
Alexander Pushkin
from 1799 to 1815
5 moments here
Russian poet, novelist, playwright, and foundational figure of modern Russian literature. This chronology traces documented physical presences from…
Alexandre Dumas
in 1802
1 moment here
French novelist, playwright, journalist, and travel writer, also known as Alexandre Dumas père.…
Arthur Schopenhauer
from 1788 to 1814
19 moments here
German philosopher and writer, born in Danzig and dead in Frankfurt am Main. His documented movements included childhood residences in Hamburg and Le…
Benjamin Franklin
from 1706 to 1790
28 moments here
American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…
Carl Friedrich Gauss
from 1777 to 1810
17 moments here
German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist. Gauss was born in Brunswick, studied there and at Göttingen, worked privately in…
Charles Darwin
from 1809 to 1813
2 moments here
English naturalist, geologist, and biologist whose observations during the global voyage of HMS Beagle and subsequent research led to his theory of…
Charles Dickens
from 1812 to 1815
2 moments here
English novelist, journalist, editor, social reformer, actor and celebrated public reader. This chronology traces documented residences, workplaces,…
Daniel Defoe
from 1685 to 1731
16 moments here
English merchant, political writer, journalist, intelligence agent, and novelist. This chronology records documented physical presences from his…
Edgar Allan Poe
from 1809 to 1815
3 moments here
American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic whose work helped shape Gothic fiction, detective fiction, and early science fiction.…
Friedrich Schiller
from 1759 to 1805
30 moments here
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, philosopher, historian, and a central figure of Weimar Classicism.…
George Washington
from 1732 to 1799
44 moments here
George Washington was a Virginia surveyor, planter, military commander, revolutionary leader, constitutional statesman, and the first president of…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
from 1770 to 1808
11 moments here
German philosopher and a central figure of German idealism. His documented movements include formative study in Stuttgart and Tübingen; tutoring…
Giuseppe Verdi
in 1813
1 moment here
Italian composer whose career transformed nineteenth-century opera. Born near Busseto, Verdi studied and worked in Busseto and Milan, then traveled…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
from 1687 to 1716
35 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
Hans Christian Andersen
from 1805 to 1807
2 moments here
Danish writer renowned for literary fairy tales including “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Snow Queen,” and “The Ugly…
Honoré de Balzac
from 1799 to 1814
7 moments here
French novelist and playwright, born in Tours and dead in Paris. Balzac created La Comédie humaine, an interlinked fictional panorama of…
Immanuel Kant
from 1724 to 1804
15 moments here
German Enlightenment philosopher whose critical philosophy transformed epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, and political thought.…
James Madison
from 1751 to 1814
25 moments here
James Madison (1751–1836) was a Virginia planter, revolutionary politician, delegate to the Continental and Confederation congresses, architect of…
Jane Austen
from 1775 to 1815
45 moments here
English novelist Jane Austen spent her life in southern England, principally in Hampshire, Bath, Southampton, Chawton, and Winchester.…
Jean de La Fontaine
from 1693 to 1695
2 moments here
French fabulist, poet, dramatist, and author whose Fables became foundational works of French literature.…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from 1712 to 1778
39 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
from 1749 to 1815
71 moments here
German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, theatre director, and statesman. Born in Frankfurt, Goethe studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, practiced…
Moments
- 1687 Stay at Rheinfels Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1688 Hosted at Sulzbach Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1688 Residence in Rotterdam John Locke
- 1688 Arrival in Munich Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1688 Meeting at Graupen Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1688 Two weeks in Regensburg Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1688 Archival discovery in Augsburg Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1688 First extended Vienna stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Residence at Dorset Court John Locke
- 1689 Return voyage with Princess Mary John Locke
- 1689 First Venice stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Arrival in Rome Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Second Rome stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Visit to Naples Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Florence visit Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Bologna stop Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1689 Departure from Florence Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1690 Este archives at Modena Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1690 Este tombs at Vangadizza Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1690 Second Venice stay Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1690 Return visit to Vienna Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1690 Returns to Hanover from Italy Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1691 Wolfenbüttel library directorship Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1691 Settlement at Oates Manor John Locke
- 1694 Born in Paris Voltaire
- 1698 Extended periods in Berlin Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1700 Vienna church-union talks Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1702 Final visit to London John Locke
- 1702 Residence at Lützenburg and Berlin Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1704 Dresden scientific-society mission Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1704 Studies at Louis-le-Grand Voltaire
- 1704 Arrival at Lützenburg Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1704 Death at Oates Manor John Locke
- 1706 Birth on Milk Street Benjamin Franklin
- 1706 Berlin residence Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1707 Childhood in Riehen Leonhard Euler
- 1707 Baptism at St. Martin's Church Leonhard Euler
- 1707 Birth in Basel Leonhard Euler
- 1708 Vienna visit Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1709 Short return to Leipzig Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1711 Studies law in Caen Voltaire
- 1711 Final Berlin sojourn Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1711 Audience with Peter the Great at Torgau Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1712 Birth in Geneva Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1712 Audience with Peter the Great at Carlsbad Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1712 Final extended Vienna residence Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1713 Serves at The Hague Voltaire
- 1714 Returns to Hanover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1715 Latin-school pupil in Basel Leonhard Euler
- 1716 Meetings with Peter the Great at Bad Pyrmont Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz