    denis diderot (; 5 october 1713 â 31 july 1784) was a french philosopher, art critic and writer. he was a prominent figure during the enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor and contributor to the encyclopÃ©die along with jean le rond d'alembert. diderot also contributed to literature, notably with jacques le fataliste et son maÃ®tre (jacques the fatalist and his master), which was influenced by laurence sterne's novel tristam shandy in challenging conventions regarding novels and their structure and content,jacques smietanski, le rÃ©alisme dans jacques le fataliste (paris: nizet, 1965). while also examining philosophical ideas about free will. diderot is also known as the author of the dialogue le neveu de rameau (rameau's nephew), upon which many articles and sermons about consumer desire have been based. ==biography== denis diderot was born in langres, champagne, and began his formal education at a jesuit collÃ¨ge in langres. thumb|nÂ° 9 de la place dans le centre ville de langres in the background on the right side the birthplace of denis diderot his parents were didier diderot (1685â1759) a cutler, maÃ®tre coutelier and his wife angÃ©lique vigneron (1677â1748). three of five siblings survived to adulthood, denise diderot (1715â1797) and their youngest brother pierre-didier diderot (1722â1787), and finally their sister angÃ©lique diderot (1720â1749). according to arthur mccandless wilson, denis diderot greatly admired his sister denise, som
1713_births 1784_deaths 18th-century_French_novelists 18th-century_French_writers 18th-century_philosophers Anti-Catholicism_in_France Atheist_philosophers Burials_at_Aglise_Saint-Roch Contributors_to_the_EncyclopA(c)die_(1751a72) Critics_of_Catholicism Enlightenment_philosophers French_art_critics French_atheists French_encyclopedists French_erotica_writers French_essayists French_literary_critics French_materialists French_philosophers LycA(c)e_Louis-le-Grand_alumni LycA(c)e_Saint-Louis_alumni Members_of_the_Prussian_Academy_of_Sciences People_from_Langres People_of_the_Age_of_Enlightenment Writers_from_Champagne-Ardenne