François Poullain de la Barre was born during July 1647 in Paris, France, to a family with judicial nobility.
[3] In 1688, the Catholic Church was critical of Cartesianism, a philosophy that he had embraced early in his career, causing Poullain de la Barre to leave the priesthood and Picardy.
[1] During a physiology conference in 1667, a friend of Poullain de la Barre introduced him to Cartesianism, the philosophy of René Descartes.
[5] Poullain de la Barre later adopted the philosophy and applied Cartesian principles to feminist thought.
[7] Six years after his introduction to Cartesianism, Poullain de la Barre published a three part series on the condition of women.
[3] Opinions about Poullain de la Barre's place in the history of feminism vary considerably, but his theories have often been used by others, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau.