De Gerando

De Gerando, Joseph Marie, Baron (1772-1842), a French writer and philanthropist, born at Lyons of a family of Italian origin. In 1797 he came to Paris, but soon afterwards went to Germany, where he enlisted in Massena's army. He here wrote a treatise which was crowned and published in 1800 with the title Des Signes et de l'Art de Penser. In 1803 he published Histoire de la Philosophie, and in 1804 he became a member of the Academy. Napoleon made him secretary-general to the Ministry of the Interior. In 1820 appeared his Visiteur des Pauvres, and in 1824 a treatise Du Perfectionnement Moral. He was made a peer of France in 1837.