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Origin and history

Condorcet's home, located in Ribemont in the department of Aisne, is a building built during the first half of the eighteenth century. This building, of modest architectural interest, is distinguished by its historical importance: it is the birthplace of Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), philosopher and mathematician from a noble Dauphin family. His father, a military man, had received Ribemont as a garrison, which explains the family's presence in this Picardy town.

Condorcet lived regularly in this house until 1775 and would have received personalities from the Enlightenment like Turgot and Alembert. The home, acquired around 1880 by the naturalist writer Léon Hennique, became a meeting place for famous authors such as Émile Zola and Alphonse Daudet. However, the building suffered major damage during the First World War, losing its 18th century interior decorations and furniture. After 1918, a long period of abandonment aggravated his condition, leading to a complete denaturation of the interiors.

Ranked a historic monument in 1990 for its facades and roofs, the house now belongs to the town of Ribemont. Despite its current state of disrepair, it retains a strong symbolic value, linked to Condorcet's intellectual heritage and its role in the history of ideas. The protections relate specifically to the external elements, while the interiors, which are deeply altered, no longer reflect their original state. The exact location of the house at 11 Condorcet Street is documented in heritage bases like Mérimée.

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