BARTHELEMY-SAINT-HILAIRE, JULES. - Philosopher and politician, b. in Paris on 19 Aug. 1805, d. there on 24 Nov. 1895. He was a political conformist and collaborated with Cousin, minister of education (1840). After an absence of about 20 years, during which he devoted himself to study and made a journey to Egypt, he returned to political life at the time of the Second Empire (1869). He was chief of staff to President Thiers and, after the latter’s fall, adhered to the republic. Under the republican regime he was a senator, vice-president of the Senate, and finally minister of foreign affairs in the Ferry cabinet. As a philosopher he belonged to Cousin’s eclectic school and was a rationalist.
He translated and commented on almost the whole of Aristotle (Oeuvres d'Aristote traduites en français, Paris 1837-92), provoking some criticism of the accuracy of his translations, which were called «des belles infidèles». He also produced various studies on the religions of the East, such as Du Boudhisme (there 1855), Le Boudha et sa religion (there 1859), Mahomet et le Coran (there 1865), and a three-volume life of Cousin (there 1895).
Umberto Degl'Innocenti