Writer, political economist.

Became a very close friend of Franklin after their first meeting (1772). Worked with him on a number of joint projects. Wrote a drinking song for which Franklin was the inspiration.

Distinguished student of the séminaire du trente-trois and a fellow student of Turgot’s at the Sorbonne at Paris. Tutor in the family of the chancellor of the King of Poland (1752).

Wrote the Préface des Philosophes or the Vision de Charles Palissot, a defense of the philosophes, for which he was briefly imprisoned in the Bastille. Collaborated with Diderot and d’Alembert on the Encyclopédie.

Published his Prospectus d’un nouveau Dictionnaire de commerce (1769), which he worked on for twenty years and abandoned in 1789.

Member of the Académie française (1785).

During the French Revolution, conserved the archives, registers and manuscripts of the Dictionnaire.