a French writer and man of letters during the Age of Enlightenment. He was educated at the Jesuit school of Pézenas, and received priest's orders, but he was dismissed for unexplained reasons from the parish of Saint-Sulpice, Paris. He became a writer and journalist, leaving the religious order for life. The Abbé Raynal wrote for the Mercure de France, and compiled a series of popular but superficial works, which he published and sold himself.
