LITTRÉ, Maximilien-Paul-Émile. — A writer on science and philosopher, born in Paris on 1 February 1801, died there on 2 June 1881. He studied medicine but did not complete his studies for family reasons. He deepened his studies in classical and Orientalist fields. A republican, he took part in the Revolution of 1830. He became a member of the Académie française in 1873. In 1840, the reading of Auguste Comte (q.v.) converted him to positivism and to the myth of a future of peace. From 1867 he directed the *Revue de philosophie positiviste*.
Among his most important works, besides the *Dictionnaire de la langue française* (Paris 1863–72) and his translation of the works of Hippocrates (ibid. 1839–61), are *A. Comte la philosophie positive* (ibid. 1863), *Conservation, révolution et positivisme* (ibid. 1852), *Médecine et médecins* (ibid. 1872), *La science au point de vue philosophique* (ibid. 1873), and *Littérature et histoire* (ibid. 1875).
An absolute denier of every theological position, in 1852 he distanced himself from Comte, whose “mystical blandishments” he deplored. In his complete atheism he attempted to resolve medical pathology, socialist humanitarianism, and sociological positivism. For L., theology is naturally a historical product of human evolution.