 Voltaire and Rousseau were almost universally influential—everyone who could read had heard of them, and while some preferred one to the other, both figured in the collective imagination as a model for thinking social and political reforms. Grouchy had read both at convent school and Voltaire had been Condorcet’s friend and mentor. Unfortunately, his acquaintance with Voltaire began after the death of Voltaire’s partner, philosopher Emilie du Chatelet, which meant that there was no direct connection between her and Grouchy.