Dumont Pierre Etienne Louis

Dumont, Pierre Etienne Louis, was born at Geneva in 1759, and being early left fatherless had to work even as a schoolboy for his own support and that of the family. In 1781 he was chosen one of the pastors of the city, but political troubles drove him into exile, and after a short stay in St. Petersburg lie came to London as private tutor to Lord Shelburne's children. Here he soon allied himself with the advanced Whigs, and acted as French editor, so to speak, to Bentham for many years. He visited Paris in 1788 and 1789, making the intimate acquaintance of Mirabeau, whom he helped in the management of his paper, Le Courier de Province. Returning to England, he lived at Lansdowne House or Bowood, and was a frequent guest at Holland House, thus meeting all the most eminent thinkers and writers of Europe. In 1814 he resumed his residence in his native city, where he soon became the leader of the Supreme Council, devoting himself especially to legal reforms. He died in 1829 at Milan, whilst on a holiday excursion, iljs Souvenirs sur Mirabeau appeared in 1832.