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Constantin-François Volney (1757–1820)
Volney, Constantin de, Count (vol-nā’); family name Chassebœuf (shas-bėf). A distinguished French philosopher, author, and traveler; born in Craon (Mayenne), Feb. 1757; died in April 1820. He published; ‘Travels in Egypt and Syria’ (1789); ‘Ruins; or, Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires’ (1791). Imprisoned in 1793, on his release he passed two years in the United States, publishing in 1803 his ‘Description of the Climate and Soil’ of the country. Among his other works are: ‘The Natural Law; or, Physical Principles of Morality’ (1793); and ‘Researches in Ancient History’ (3 vols., 1814).