Francesco Algarotti

Francesco Algarotti
Portrait by Jean-Étienne Liotard (1745), Rijksmuseum, on parchment
Born	11 December 1712 (1712-12-11) Venice, Republic of Venice
Died	3 May 1764 (1764-05-04) (aged 51) Pisa, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Nationality	Venetian
Alma mater	Sapienza University of Rome University of Bologna
Occupation	Philosopher

Count Francesco Algarotti (11 December 1712 – 3 May 1764) was an Italian polymath, philosopher, poet, essayist, anglophile, art critic and art collector. He was a man of broad knowledge, an expert in Newtonianism, architecture and opera. He was a friend of Frederick the Great and leading authors of his times: Voltaire, Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, Pierre-Louis de Maupertuis and the atheist Julien Offray de La Mettrie. Lord Chesterfield, Thomas Gray, George Lyttelton, Thomas Hollis, Metastasio, Benedict XIV and Heinrich von Brühl were among his correspondents.^[1]