Also known as: Cercle des Philadelphes, Philadelphes, Royal Society of Cap-Francais, Royal Society of Cap-Français
Last updated: April 23, 2026
The Cercle des Philadelphes was a colonial scientific society founded in Cap-Français in 1784 — the only such institution in the French Americas recognized by the Académie royale des sciences. Its members, including Moreau de Saint-Méry, produced botanical, medical, and natural historical research funded by plantation wealth. The society embodied the Enlightenment's entanglement with slavery: colonial scientific culture was directed by men deeply implicated in the colonial order.
Moreau De Saint Méry
Cap-Français
French Revolution
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"Cercle Des Philadelphes." Rasin.ai, 2026. https://rasin.ai/connections/concepts/cercle-des-philadelphes. Accessed 2026-05-05.