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Chanut, Pierre

Index: El inmortal, El Aleph, OC,Obras completas. Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1974. 544.

French ambassador to Sweden during the reign of Queen Christina, correspondent of Descartes

Fishburn and Hughes: "A French diplomat, ambassador to Sweden and counsellor to Queen Christina. Chanut had a fluent knowledge of Hebrew, classical and modern languages, law, science and philosophy. He was a friend of Descartes, whom he introduced to the queen and with whom he remained in correspondence. The epistle referred to, in Lettres sur la morale, is Descartes's letter to Chanut dated 1 November 1646 describing what savage people think of monkeys: 'They imagine that monkeys could talk, if they so wished, but refrain from doing so for fear of being obliged to work'." (44-45)