François-Henri Turpin (1709–1799) was a French
man of letters.
Life
He was born at
Caen. He was first a professor at the
university of his native town, then went to seek his fortunes in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, where he made some stir in philosophical circles, and especially in that of the magnificent
Helvetius; but he was only able to earn a livelihood with difficulty by putting his pen at the service of the booksellers. He translated, or rather adapted from the English, Edward W Montague's ''Histoire du gouvernement des anciennes républiques'' (1768), and wrote a continuation of
Father Pierre Joseph d'Orléans, ''Histoire des revolutions d'Angleterre'' (1786).
His ''Histoire naturelle et civile du royaume de Siam'' (1771) chronicles the observations of a
vicar-apostolic who had lived in
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
for many years. His chief work, ''La France illustre, ou Le Plutarque français'', contains the biographies of generals, ministers, and eminent officers of the law (5 vols, 1777–1790), in which, however, as
La Harpe said, he showed himself to be "ni Plutarque ni Français" ("neither Plutarch nor French"). He also wrote an ''Histoire des hommes publics tires du tiers etat'' (1789).
References
Attribution:
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, Francois
1709 births
1799 deaths
Writers from Caen
Academic staff of the University of Caen Normandy
French male writers