Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme
1755 - Born on April 1st in Belley, France. French lawyer, politician, and author of a celebrated work on gastronomy, Physiologie du goût (“The Physiology of Taste”).
1789 - A deputy of the third estate at the States-General, he was forced to flee the country during the Terror and went to Switzerland and the United States.
- During his emigration in New York, he supported himself by giving language lessons and playing violin in a New York theatre orchestra.
- He introduced his newly made American friends to such things as French ices and fondue.
- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin has been revered as the greatest gastronome the world has ever known.
1793 - He became the mayor of Belley.
1796 - He returned to France.
1797 - Became a member of the court of cassation.
1825 - His greatest masterpiece was La Physiologie du gout Physiology of the Taste or Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendent which he published at his own expense.
- His Physiologie du goût (The Physiology of Taste), an elegant and witty compendium of the art of dining, has been repeatedly republished and translated.
- Brillat-Savarin also wrote The Handbook of Dining Corpulency and Leanness Scientifically Considered.
1826 - Died on February 2nd in Paris.
Page last updated: 1:55am, 28th Aug '07