Léon Brunschvicq

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Léon Brunschvicq (commonly spelled Brunschvicg, 1869–1944) was a French Idealist philosopher.

In 1909 he became professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne. He was married to Cécile Kahn [1], a major campaigner for women's suffrage in France, and they had four children.

Forced to leave his position at the Sorbonne by German occupiers in his native France, Brunschwicg was forced into isolation yet refused to leave his native land. During this period, he wrote studies of Montaigne, Descartes, and Pascal that were printed in Switzerland. He composed a manual of philosophy dedicated to his teenage granddaughter entitled Héritage de Mots, Héritage d'Idées (Legacy of Words, Legacy of Ideas) which was published posthumously after the liberation of France. His reinterpretation of Descartes has become the foundation for a new idealism.