Jean-Jacques Rousseau

French-speaking philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment whose ideas on popular sovereignty, the social contract, and natural freedom profoundly shaped the French Revolution. The Social Contract (1762) opened with the declaration 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' His educational treatise Émile and his confessional autobiographical writing also made him a forerunner of Romanticism.

• Nationality: french
• Roles: Philosopher, Political Theorist, Writer