Der Gesellschaftsvertrag

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was born in Geneva, lost his mother days after his birth, ran away from an apprenticeship at fifteen and lived for years as a wanderer, a music copyist and the protégé of Madame de Warens. In 1750 an essay arguing that civilisation had corrupted humanity won a prize and made him famous overnight.

In 1762 he published both The Social Contract and Emile; both were condemned, and he had to flee. His Confessions, one of the first modern autobiographies, admits among other things that he placed his own five children in a foundling hospital. Few writers have influenced politics, education and the romantic idea of the self so deeply.