Famous People Born In 1715

Dorothea Erxleben was an 18th-century German woman who became the first female medical doctor in the country. She was the first woman to be licensed by a regulating medical body to practice medicine in the world. She fought for her right to practice medicine from a young age and received her MD from the University of Halle in 1754. 

French political economist Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau belonged to the Physiocratic school. He is also remembered as the father of economist and French Revolution leader Comte de Mirabeau. He penned books such as Theory of Taxation. Going against tax farmers, he suggested direct tax collection on income and land.

Interestingly, German lyric poet Ewald Christian von Kleist had initially studied law and math and then also worked as a cavalry officer, first in Denmark and then in Prussia. He later gained fame with his long poem Der Frühling, written in hexameters and showcasing imagery and his love for nature.

Joseph-Marie Terray was the controller-general of finances toward the end of Louis XV’s reign. He began his career as an ecclesiastical counselor of the Parlement of Paris. His reforms, such as forced loans, were met with general opposition. He was dismissed over allegations of being associated with the Pact of Famine.

Apart from recognizing the volcanic nature of central France’s Auvergne district, French geologist and mineralogist Jean-Étienne Guettard also wrote extensively on the geological aspects of the terrains of France and England. He was the first to make a geological survey of France and study the Paris Basin bedrock.