Birth and Childhood in Geneva
Baptized at St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva.
Mother died due to complications from childbirth.
Father fled Geneva to avoid imprisonment, leaving Jean-Jacques and his brother François to be cared for by an uncle.
Sent to live with a minister in a nearby village for education.
Returned to Geneva to live with his uncle.
Apprenticed to an engraver named Abel Ducommun.
Left Geneva and Ducommun's apprenticeship.
Apprenticeship and Early Adulthood
Arrived in Annecy, France.
Introduced to Françoise-Louise de Warens, who would become his benefactor and lover.
Converted to Catholicism at the Hospice of the Holy Spirit in Annecy.
Worked as a servant and secretary in Turin, Italy.
Returned to Madame de Warens in Annecy.
Lived with Madame de Warens at Les Charmettes, a house outside Chambéry.
Began studying music under the direction of a musician named Le Maître.
Worked as a tutor in Lyon, France.
Traveled to Montpellier to study medicine.
Worked as a tutor in Lyon again.
Moved to Paris to pursue a career as a musician and composer.
Devised a new system of musical notation, which was presented to the Academy of Sciences.
Move to Paris and Meeting the Philosophes
Appointed as the French Secretary to the French Ambassador in Venice, Italy.
Resigned from the position in Venice and returned to Paris.
Became friends with Denis Diderot and began contributing to the Encyclopédie.
Began a relationship with Thérèse Levasseur, a seamstress.
First child with Thérèse born, sent to the foundling hospital, as were the subsequent four children.
Major Works and Growing Fame
Published 'Narcissus, or The Self-Admired', a play criticizing the morals of the time.
Performed 'Le Devin du Village', an opera, at the court of King Louis XV.
Published 'Letter on French Music'.
Returned to Geneva and reconverted to Calvinism.
Published 'Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men'.
Began writing 'Julie, or the New Heloise', an epistolary novel.
Published 'Letter to M. D'Alembert on Spectacles'.
Published 'Julie, or the New Heloise', which became a bestseller.
Published 'The Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right'.
Published 'Emile, or On Education', which was condemned by the Paris Parlement and the Archbishop of Paris.
Fled France to avoid arrest.
Exile and Wanderings
Arrived in Yverdon, Switzerland.
Stoned by a mob in Motiers, Switzerland, and fled to the island of St. Pierre.
Expelled from the island of St. Pierre and fled to Berlin, Germany.
Renounced his Genevan citizenship.
Arrived in England at the invitation of David Hume.
Left England for France, after a quarrel with Hume.
Arrived in Paris under the protection of the Prince of Conti.
Married Thérèse Levasseur in a secret ceremony.
Fled Paris to avoid arrest and traveled to Grenoble, France.
Return to Paris and Final Years
Returned to Paris under the name 'Renou', working as a copyist.
Completed his 'Confessions', an autobiographical work.
Returned to Paris and resumed using his real name.
Began writing 'Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques', a dialogue.
Began writing 'Reveries of the Solitary Walker', a collection of essays.
Moved to Ermenonville, France, at the invitation of the Marquis de Girardin.