Charles Ancillon
Charles Ancillon | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 28 July 1659 Metz,France |
Died | 5 July 1715 Berlin,Germany | (aged 55)
Occupation(s) | Diplomat Jurist Educator |
Charles Ancillon(28 July 1659 – 5 July 1715)[1]was a Frenchjuristand diplomat.
Life
[edit]Ancillon was born inMetzinto a distinguished family ofHuguenots.His father,David Ancillon(1617–1692), was obliged to leaveFranceonthe revocationof theEdict of Nantes,and became pastor of the FrenchProtestantcommunity inBerlin.[2]
Ancillon studied law atMarburg,Geneva and Paris, where he was called to the bar. At the request of the Huguenots at Metz, he pleaded its cause at the court of KingLouis XIV,urging that it should be excepted in the revocation of theEdict of Nantes,but his efforts were unsuccessful, and he joined his father in Berlin. He was at once appointed by ElectorFrederick III"juge et directeur de colonie de Berlin."He also became the first headmaster ofFranzösisches Gymnasium Berlin.Before this, he had published several works on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes and its consequences, but his literary capacity was mediocre, his style stiff and cold, and it was his personal character rather than his reputation as a writer that earned him the confidence of the elector.[2]
In 1687 Ancillon was appointed head of the so-calledAcademie des nobles,the principal educational establishment of the state; later on, as councillor of embassy, he took part in the negotiations which led to the assumption of the title of "King in Prussia"by the elector. In 1699 he succeededSamuel Pufendorfas historiographer to the elector, and the same year replaced his uncleJoseph Ancillonas judge of all the French refugees in theMargraviate of Brandenburg.[2]
Ancillon is mainly remembered for what he did for education inBrandenburg-Prussia,and the share he took, in co-operation withGottfried Leibniz,in founding theAcademy of Berlin.Of his fairly numerous works the one of the most value is the "Histoire de l'etablissement des Francais refugies dans les etats de Brandebourg"published in Berlin in 1690.[2]
Family
[edit]- Friedrich Ancillon,his grandson, a Prussian historian and statesman
References
[edit]- ^"Ancillon, Charles" inThe New Encyclopædia Britannica.Chicago:Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.,15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 378.
- ^abcdpublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Ancillon, Charles".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 950. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
[edit]- Works by Charles AncillonatProject Gutenberg
- Works by or about Charles Ancillonat theInternet Archive