ABSTRACT
The evening of 14 March 1728 marked a turning-point in Rousseau’s life. Finding himself locked out of the city after curfew, Jean-Jacques made his way to Annecy in the Catholic Duchy of Savoy. There he was inveigled, with little resistance, into exchanging Protestantism for Catholicism by the religious but erotic Mme de Warens. She arranged for him to be instructed and baptized into the Catholic faith in Turin. After his return, he established himself in Mme de Warens’ household, and with her embarked on his first and deepest romantic attachment. There followed years of errancy and haphazard employment, including a term as tutor to the de Mably family (1740-1). On the basis of that brief experience he wrote an early sketch of his educational theory. The passionate affair with Mme de Warens terminated unhappily in 1738, when Jean-Jacques was displaced by her factotum Wintzenried.
