Antoine-Elisée Cherbuliez (also Antoine Élisée Adolph Cherbuliez; 29 July 1797 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

- 7 March 1869 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

) was a Swiss

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

thinker. ''My mission is to influence the world'', he wrote in 1844. While his economic thought stimulated some responses, that is hardly the case for his political ideas, in effect stillborn. Unlike his compatriots

Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss and French political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed republican from 1795, Constant ...

and

Jean de Sismondi Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, Cherbuliez has had little attention from contemporary historians. His thoughts were spread thinly over various publications, with no major work of synthesis. He was a retiring academic and somewhat isolated. He was though granted recognition: member of the

Académie des sciences morales et politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

, and holder of academic distinctions. Further,

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

wrote a chapter on his place in the history of economic doctrine.Karl Marx, ''

Theories of Surplus Value ''Theories of Surplus Value'' () is a draft manuscript written by Karl Marx between January 1862 and July 1863. It is mainly concerned with the Western Europe, Western European theorizing about ''Mehrwert'' (added value or surplus value) from abo ...

'', Vol.3, Ch.23 "Cherbuliez"

Career

Born into a middle-class family, he studied at the

Collège de Genève In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

, then the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

in Paris, and the theological faculty in Geneva. In 1819 he travelled to Germany, trying unsuccessfully to live by writing poetry and novels. He then took tutoring work, returning to Geneva in 1823. There he submitted a doctoral dissertation to the law faculty, on "the causes of positive law". His career took off. He founded a journal arguing the

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

cause (1829). In 1835 he was nominated as professor of public law and political economy. Two books which gained a reputation were ''Théorie des garanties constitutionnelles'' of 1838, and ''Riche ou pauvre'' (1840). Reacting to the

Genevan revolution Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

of 1841, he turned to conservative views. Elected to the 1842 Constituent Assembly, he was hostile to democratic reform, his views being expressed in the book ''De la démocratie en Suisse''. In 1848 he left politics and travelled to Paris, reacting with shock to the violent events there. Five years later he came back to Switzerland, and wrote a series of works with economic and social themes, among them ''Étude sur les causes de la misère, tant morale que physique et sur les moyens d'y porter remède'' (1853). They contained his theory of

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social sciences * Value (ethics), concept which may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Axiology, interdisciplinary study of values, including e ...

, which was admired at the time.

Selected works

References

External links

''Antoine-Elisée Cherbuliez''
In: ''

Historical Dictionary of Switzerland The ''Historical Dictionary of Switzerland'' (Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse; DHS) is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland. It aims to present the history of Switzerland in the form of an encyclopaedia, published both on paper a ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherbuliez, Antoine-Elisee 1797 births 1869 deaths Economists from the Republic of Geneva Swiss economists Swiss Protestants Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques