Pierre Larousse

Pierre Larousse (born Oct. 23, 1817, Toucy, France—died Jan. 3, 1875, Paris) was a grammarian, lexicographer, and encyclopaedist who published many of the outstanding educational and reference works of 19th-century France, including the Grand Dictionnaire universel du XIX^e siècle (15 vol., 1866–76; supplements 1878 and 1890), a comprehensive encyclopaedia of lasting value.

The son of a blacksmith, Larousse obtained a bursary to study at Versailles and then returned to Toucy as a schoolmaster. In 1840 he went to Paris, supporting himself meagrely while beginning his researches. His first work, a basic vocabulary textbook, was published in 1849, followed soon after by a steady stream of grammars, dictionaries, and other textbooks he had written, brought out by his own publishing house after 1852. Success was immediate and provided a financial base for the Grand Dictionnaire, which was issued in fortnightly parts over 11 years. The work was imbued with Larousse’s attitude of scientific progressivism: he attempted to disseminate all of the newly developed scientific attitudes, even when these were not conventionally acceptable. “My first ambition was to teach children,” he wrote; “I wanted to continue by trying to teach everyone about everything.”