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==Early Life==

==Early Life==

D'Argens was born in [[Aix-en-Provence]], the eldest son of a magistrate who was made a marquis in 1720. He was given an intensive Catholic and classical education at the hands of the Jesuits, but became a skeptic and eventually a Deist. An arch-opponent of the Catholic Church, intolerance and religious oppression, his books were frequently denounced by the [[Inquisition]]. In 1724 he accompanied the French ambassador on a journey to [[Constantinople]], where he lived for a year. After an adventurous youth, he was disinherited by his father. He then settled for a time in [[Amsterdam]], where he wrote his Memoirs and the celebrated ''[[Jewish Letters (novel)|Lettres juives]]'' (The Hague, 6 vols, 1738-1742). It was followed by ''Lettres chinoises'' (The Hague, 6 vols, 1739-1742), and ''Lettres cabalistiques'' (2nd ed., 7 vols, 1769). Next came the ''Mémoires Secrets de la République des Lettres'' (7 vols, 1743-1478), afterwards revised and augmented as ''Histoire de l'esprit humain'' (Berlin, 14 vols, 1765-1768). He also wrote six novels, which are entertaining, witty and delightful.  

D'Argens was born in [[Aix-en-Provence]], the eldest son of a magistrate who was made a marquis in 1720. He was given an intensive Catholic and classical education at the hands of the Jesuits, but became a skeptic and eventually a Deist. An arch-opponent of the Catholic Church, intolerance and religious oppression, his books were frequently denounced by the [[Inquisition]]. In 1724 he accompanied the French ambassador on a journey to [[Constantinople]], where he lived for a year. After an adventurous youth, he was disinherited by his father. He then settled for a time in [[Amsterdam]], where he wrote his Memoirs and the celebrated ''[[Jewish Letters (novel)|Lettres juives]]'' (The Hague, 6 vols, 1738-1742). It was followed by ''Lettres chinoises'' (The Hague, 6 vols, 1739-1742), and ''Lettres cabalistiques'' (2nd ed., 7 vols, 1769). Next came the ''Mémoires Secrets de la République des Lettres'' (7 vols, 1743-1478), afterwards revised and augmented as ''Histoire de l'esprit humain'' (Berlin, 14 vols, 1765-1768). He also wrote six novels, which are unjustly neglected.  

==Career at Prussian Court==

==Career at Prussian Court==