Quotes:Volney, Constantin Francois Chassebeuf, Comte de

Zirkoff, Boris

Volney, Constantin Francois Chassebeuf, Comte de. French savant, b. at Craon (Maine-et-Loire), Feb. 3, 1757; d. in Paris, April 25, 1820. Was at first surnamed Boisgirais from his father’s estate, but assumed the name of Volney. Spent some four years in Egypt and Syria, publishing his Voyage en Égypte et en Syrie in 1787. Was a member of both the States-General and of the Constituent Assembly. In 1791 appeared his Les Ruines, ou méditations sur les révolutions des empires, an essay on the philosophy of history. Volney tried to put his politico-economic theories into practice in Corsica. He was thrown into prison during the Jacobin triumph, but escaped the guillotine. He went to the U.S.A., 1795, where he was accused of being a French spy, and returned to France, 1798. He was not a partisan of Napoleon, but served him in the senate. Became a member of the Institute, 1795.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 1, p. 530