Holbach

Holbach, Paul Heinrich Dietrich, Baron von, was born at Heidelsheim, in the Palatinate, in 1723. He appears to have inherited considerable wealth, and, coming to Paris, settled down there as the patron of the Encyclopedists and their allies. Helvetius, Diderot, D'Alembert, Rousseau, Condillac, Turgot, Hume, Wilkes, and Sterne were among his constant guests. Though a man of blameless life and average intelligence, he carried his attacks on religion and morality so far as to shock even Voltaire and Frederick the Great. His principal works are Le Cliristianisme Devoile, Le Systeme de la Nature, Le Systhnc Social, La Morale Universellc, and Bon Sens, a popular treatise. Most of these were published anonymously, or under the pseudonym of "Mirabaud." He died in 1789.