Henri Louis Habert de Montmort ( 1600,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 21 January 1679,

) was a French scholar and man of letters.

Biography

Cousin to Philippe Habert and Germain Habert, he became conseiller du roi aged 25, then in 1632 rose to become

maître des requêtes A Master of Requests () is a counsel of the French ''Conseil d'État'' (Council of State), a high-level judicial officer of administrative law in France. The office has existed in one form or another since the Middle Ages. The occupational titl ...

, a post he gained thanks to the fortune of his father, treasurer extraordinary for war and treasurer of savings. He married Henriette-Marie de Buade, sister of

Louis de Buade de Frontenac Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS Louis, HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy Se ...

, future governor of

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He attended on Marie de Gournay and wrote Latin epigrams. In 1634, he was elected an inaugural member of the

Académie française 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 ...

, pronouncing its fifth discourse but soon becoming a dissenting member as well as its last inaugural member to die. A supporter of Descartes, Habert wrote a poem on Cartesian physics entitled ''De rerum naturae'' and collected scientific instruments. He was a friend of Mersenne, who dedicated his ''Harmonie Universelle'' to Montmor, and a great friend of

Pierre Gassendi Pierre Gassendi (; also Pierre Gassend, Petrus Gassendi, Petrus Gassendus; 22 January 1592 – 24 October 1655) was a French philosopher, Catholic priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church position in south-east France, he a ...

, who dedicated to him his ''Life of

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He ...

''. Gassendi also left him an astronomical telescope he had been left by

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

. Three years after Gassendi's death, Habert edited his complete works in 6 volumes, writing its Latin preface. Besides Gassendi, he gathered a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

of savants and philosophers which included, among others:

Pierre Daniel Huet P. D. Huetius Pierre Daniel Huet (; ; 8 February 1630 – 26 January 1721) was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Académie de Physique in Caen (1662–1672) and Bishop of Soissons from 1685 to 1689 ...

, Jean Chapelain, Adrien Auzout,

Girard Desargues Girard Desargues (; 21 February 1591September 1661) was a French mathematician and engineer, who is considered one of the founders of projective geometry. Desargues' theorem, the Desargues graph, and the crater Desargues on the Moon are named i ...

, Samuel Sorbière, Claude Clerselier, Jacques Rohault, Guy Patin, Frénicle de Bessy, Pierre Petit,

Melchisédech Thévenot Melchisédech or Melchisédec Thévenot (29 October 1692) was a French author, scientist, traveller, cartographer, orientalist, inventor, and diplomat. He was the inventor of the spirit level and is also famous for his popular posthumously publ ...

, Roberval and Huygens. They were all passionate about scientific experiments and formed in 1657 the "Académie Montmort", which was based in his house. It ceased to exist in 1664 as a result of petty squabbles, but one of the members, Adrien Auzout, indicated in a letter of dedication to Louis XIV in 1664 that there was a need for a public observatory, and that there was a group ready to begin its work if it received royal sponsorship. A proposed constitution was circulated to former Academy members but numerous modifications were made before the

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

was finally created in 1666.

References

External links

Biography on the Galileo Project
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Biography on the Académie française site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Habert Fe Montmor, Henri Louis 1600s births 1679 deaths 17th-century French scientists Members of the Académie Française 17th-century French male writers

Biography

See also

References

External links