ABSTRACT
FRAN90IS MARIE CHARLES FouRIER,! the son of Charles and of Marie Muguet, was born at Besanc;on, on 7 April I 772; he died in Paris on 7 October I837.2 The Fouriers were neither poor nor obscure as is usually thought. His father was a merchant of sufficient standing to have been elected "premier juge consulaire" for the year I 776, a post later equivalent to that of the President of the Tribunal of Commerce.3 The Muguets, his mother's family, were rich, noble and with much influence in Besanc;on. One of the family was a member of the Constituent Assembly.4
