Paul-Henri Thiry d’Holbach, more familiarly known as baron d’Holbach, was one of the most important and prolific thinkers of the eighteenth century. His radical works put forward a deterministic, materialistic, and atheistic philosophy; they circulated widely in Revolutionary France and had a remarkable impact on nineteenth-century thought, particularly on the development of Karl Marx’s ideas.
Born in Edesheim, western Germany, on (or shortly before) 8 December 1723, d’Holbach was the son of Johann Jakob Thiry († 1756) and Katherina Jakobea Holbach († 1743). When still a young boy, he was sent to Paris and entrusted to his maternal uncle, François-Adam Holbach († 1753), a childless man who had made his fortune at the beginning of the eighteenth century and acquired the title
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Citation: Sciuto, Ruggero. "Baron d'Holbach". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 April 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14660, accessed 12 October 2024.]