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Article: Priestley, Joseph (1733–1804)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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PRIESTLEY, JOSEPH (1733
–
1804)
PRIESTLEY, JOSEPH
(1733
–
1804), English cleric, chemist, historian, theologian, philosopher, and social and political critic. Joseph Priestley, the eldest son of a maker and dresser of woolen cloth, was born in Fieldhead near Leeds, Yorkshire. As a boy, Joseph was exposed to strict Calvinism and tutored by local clergymen. Because his religious Nonconformity barred him from Oxford and Cambridge, his formal education was completed at the dissenting academy at Daventry. However, it was largely through his own efforts that Priestley learned Latin, Greek, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic.
Over the course of his life, ...