Isaac Rousseau

He was born in Geneva, the son of Suzanne Cartier (1645–1705) and the master-clockmaker David Rousseau (October 2, 1641–July 17, 1738), who was himself the son of the clockmaker Jean Rousseau (March 29, 1606–May 26, 1684) and his wife Lydie Mussard (1613–1678).

In 1722 he was almost imprisoned thanks to a quarrel and he went into exile from Geneva, leaving his son in the care of Isaac's brother-in-law Gabriel Bernard.

He then became one of the Genevan clockmakers who settled in the Ottoman Empire, where he was put in charge of regulating the pendulums in the Topkapi Palace – an important role, since these clocks regulated the exact time for Islamic prayers.

[2] Swiss clockmakers had been trading with the Ottomans via the French since the end of the 16th century, with a community in Galata, reserved for westerners since the time of Francis I of France.

He was widowed again in the 1720s but he does not seem to have been overly worried by his eldest son François Rousseau's flight from Geneva.