Marquis de Condorcet Statue

The Marquis de Condorcet passed away on 29 March 1794. Another Renaissance man who dabbled in sciences, mathematics and philosophy. And he contributed in implementing the Metric system!

He is undoubtedly the forgotten philosopher, outshadowed by Voltaire and Rousseau. Yet, being younger than them, he was still alive to witness and be active during the French Revolution.

So one would think that any philosophers who had defended the ideas of Liberty would be heralded as a hero during these tumultuous times... Well it is not exactly what happened during the "Terror": Condorcet had to hide and finally surrendered.

He died in prison, though the exact reason of his death remains a mystery: poisoning ; suicide or seizure...?