# Louis Necker > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Louis_Necker > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Louis_Necker.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Necker > Source revision: 1346825072 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Genevan mathematician, physicist, professor, banker (1730–1804)}} {{Distinguish|Louis Albert Necker}} thumb thumb|300px|Gouache from Cologny on Lake Geneva by Jean-Antoine Linck '''Louis Necker''', called '''de Germany''' (31 August 1730 in Geneva – 31 July 1804 in [Cologny](/source/Cologny)) was a [Genevan](/source/Republic_of_Geneva) mathematician, physicist, professor and a banker in Paris. He was the elder brother of [Jacques Necker](/source/Jacques_Necker), minister of Finance in France when the French Revolution broke out. == Biography == Louis Necker studied mathematics and physics at the [Academy of Geneva](/source/University_of_Geneva).[http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rde_0769-0886_1990_num_8_1_1057 Frank A. Kafker : ''Notices sur les auteurs des 17 volumes de « discours » de l'Encyclopédie (suite et fin).'' Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie Année 1990 Volume 8 Numéro 8 p. 107]. He finished his studies in philosophy with a thesis on electricity (1747), then graduated in law (1751). For a while he became the governor of probably [Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg](/source/Charles_Christian%2C_Prince_of_Nassau-Weilburg) and [Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold](/source/Simon_August%2C_Count_of_Lippe-Detmold) during their stay in Geneva and traveled with them to the University of Turin.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZY1SmV_ArYC&dq=Lippe-Detmold+Louis+Necker&pg=PA4|title=Madame de Staël: Her Friends, and Her Influence in Politics and Literature|first=Charlotte|last=Blennerhassett|date=October 31, 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-VsmDwAAQBAJ&q=Louis+Necker&pg=PT21|title=Necker|first=Ghislain de|last=Diesbach|date=June 8, 2017|publisher=Place des éditeurs|via=Google Books}} He managed a boarding school for young Englishmen held by his father Charles Frederick, lawyer and professor of law at the Geneva Academy. He was appointed as the [hofmeister](/source/hofmeister_(office)) of a Baron van [Van Wassenaer](/source/Van_Wassenaer) and a [Bentinck](/source/Bentinck). In 1752 he purchased {{Interlanguage link|Jean Jallabert|fr}}'s physics laboratory and in 1757 acceded the chair of mathematics and the honorary chair of Experimental Physics of the Academy of Geneva. As a correspondent of the [Académie royale des sciences](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_royale_des_sciences) he had written an article for the Encyclopedia on [Friction](/source/Friction) in mechanics.{{Cite web|url=https://artflsrv03.uchicago.edu/philologic4/kafker/navigate/1/98/|title=The Encyclopedists as individuals: a biographical dictionary of the authors of the Encyclopédie}} In 1759 he lost his wife Isabelle André, whom he had married in 1752 and came from Marseille. In 1761 he was forced to resign from his professorship after a scandal (Vernes-Necker case).{{Cite web|url=https://artflsrv03.uchicago.edu/philologic4/kafker/navigate/1/98/|title = The Encyclopédistes as Individuals}} In 1762 with the help of his brother he was appointed in a trading house in Marseille and added to his last name de Germany, after the family estate near [Rolle](/source/Rolle). He was dropped from the Académie des sciences's list of Corresponding Members in 1767. In 1770 he moved to Paris. In 1772 he became a banker at {{Interlanguage link|Banque Girardot|fr|3=Banque Girardot|lt=Girardot Bank}}. In 1773 he remarried. Between 1774 and 1778 he must have been very busy collecting interest for his rich and noble clients in [Utrecht](/source/Utrecht), the Netherlands. An astonishing number of notarial deeds are in his name.{{Cite web|url=https://hetutrechtsarchief.nl/onderzoek/resultaten/archieven/zoekresultaat?mistart=68&mivast=39&mizig=236&miadt=39&miaet=54&micode=34-4.U256c014&milang=nl&misort=last_mod%7Cdesc&miview=ldt&mizk_alle=Louis%20Necker&mibj=1750&miej=1800|title=Utrecht Archief}} In 1776 he became [resident](/source/resident_(title)) for the [Republic of Geneva](/source/Republic_of_Geneva), succeeding his brother. When Emmanuel Haller was appointed in the Girardot bank in 1777, Louis became a silent partner. At some time (1777?) he became a friend of [Benjamin Franklin](/source/Benjamin_Franklin).{{Cite web|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-24-02-0314|title = Founders Online: To Benjamin Franklin from Louis Necker de Germany, 8 August 1777}} Jacques Necker was dismissed on 19 May 1781 as controller of the royal treasury. It seems the brothers were still cooperating as Jacques and Louis received annually 8 million livres as a pension.[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9766891m/f1n300.pdf?download=1 Othénin d’Haussonville (2004) “La liquidation du ‘dépôt’ de Necker: entre concept et idée-force,”, p. 204 Cahiers staëliens, 55] As a result of changes during the liberal phase of the [French Revolution](/source/French_Revolution), he thought it prudent to return to his homeland in 1791. The disgrace of his younger brother Jacques, who resigned in 1790, contributed to his decision. The Neckers were far from welcome in Geneva. Many of the French émigrés considered them Jacobins, and many of the Swiss Jacobins thought them conservative. His son Jacques (1757-1825), who had joined the French army, married [Albertine Necker de Saussure](/source/Albertine_Necker_de_Saussure) in 1785. The French Revolution ended his military career. In 1790, he began teaching as a demonstrator in botany at the [Academy of Geneva](/source/University_of_Geneva) as Professor of Botany. == Works == * ''De Electricitate'', 1747, in-4°; dans le ''Recueil de l’Académie'' (savants étrangers), vol. IV. He solved this problem: finding the curve on which a sliding body by its weight in vacuum, in any point of the curve that starts to descend, always arrives in an equal time to the lowest point, assuming the resistance from the friction as a specific part of the pressure felt by the body on the rope. * Article « Forces & Frottement », in the volume VII of the ''[Encyclopédie](/source/Encyclop%C3%A9die)'' by [Diderot](/source/Denis_Diderot) and [D’Alembert](/source/Jean_le_Rond_d'Alembert). == Bibliography == * [Ferdinand Hoefer](/source/Ferdinand_Hoefer), ''Nouvelle biographie générale'', t. 37, Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1863, {{p.|575|576}} == References == {{Reflist}} {{Portal bar|mathematics|Switzerland}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Necker, Louis}} Category:18th-century mathematicians from the Republic of Geneva Category:18th-century physicists from the Republic of Geneva Category:Bankers from the Republic of Geneva Category:Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) Category:1730 births Category:1804 deaths --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Louis Necker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Necker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Necker?action=history)). 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