GIMSON
GIEAED
was described by the Manchester Guardian
as " the most severe loss that the little
world of craftsmanship has endured in this
country for a long while." Gimson shared
and embodied in his life the high Owenite
Eationalism of his father. D. Aug. 12,
1919.
GIMSON, Josiah, mechanical engineer. E. Nov. 29, 1818. He was the head of an engineering business at Leicester who came under the influence of the idealist Ration alism which Owen inaugurated, and Holy- oake sustained, in the first half of the last century. With a few friends he started the Leicester Secular Society in 1852 ; and he founded, and was chief shareholder in, the Leicester Secular Hall Company. The handsome hall which they erected in 1881 is still the home of the Leicester Secular Society, one of the most useful and admir able of the surviving Secular Societies. Mr. Gimson himself lectured and debated, and gave considerable financial assistance to the journalistic enterprises of Holyoake, Bradlaugh, Watts, and Foote. He was at one time a member of the Leicester Town Council, and his high character commanded great respect. D. Sep. 6, 1883.
GIMSON, Sydney Ansell, mechanical engineer. B. Aug. 22, 1860, third son of Josiah Gimson. Mr. S. Gimson followed his father not only in the engineering busi ness, but in his close interest in the life of the Secular Society and in Eationalism generally. He has, with the exception of one year, been President of the Society since 1888, and it is mainly owing to his high ideals and devoted service that it survives in its full educational usefulness. Few men of business have given an equal personal service to the cause of Eation alism, or better presented its moral and intellectual standard. Mr. Gimson is a member of the Leicester City Council, and an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Press Association.
GINGUENE, Pierre Louis, French
289
writer. B. Apr. 27, 1748. Ed. privately
and Eennes College. He entered the
Ministry of Finance at Paris, and privately
devoted himself to letters and philosophy.
When the Eevolution broke out, he sup
ported it in his journal, La Feuille Vil-
layeoise, though his moderation led to his
arrest in 1797. He was sent as French
ambassador to Turin, and in 1799 was a
member of the Tribunate. His later years
were given to letters, his chief work being
a valuable Histoirc litt&raire d ltalie (9 vols.,
1811-24). Ginguene was a Deist of the
Eousseau school. D. Nov. 11, 1816.
GIOJA, Melchiorre, Italian economist. B. Sep. 20, 1767. Ed. Piacenza. Ordained priest in 1796, Gioja devoted himself to studies which undermined his faith, and he left the Church. He published a Deistic pamphlet in 1798, and in the following year he was appointed Director of the Milan Statistical Bureau. He lost the position in 1811, but was in 1813 en trusted with the task of compiling the statistics of Italy. Gioja was one of the leading Italian scholars of his time, and one of the founders of statistical science in Europe. D. Jan 2, 1829.
GIRARD, Stephen, American philan thropist. B. (France) May 20, 1750. He went to sea in his boyhood, and in 1776 settled in business at Philadelphia. In 1793 he remained in the city during an epidemic of yellow fever, and won great regard by his heroic conduct. Becoming a wealthy ship owner, he paraded his Deistic views by giv ing such names as Voltaire, Eousseau, and Helvetius to his vessels. At his death he left nearly the whole of his fortune (7,500,000 dollars, probably the largest fortune then made in America) for charity. Of this sum 5,260,000 dollars were to be applied to building and endowing an orphanage at Philadelphia, and it was expressly stipulated that no ecclesiastic should ever enter it except as a visitor. The estate is now valued at about 40,000,000 dollars. D. Dec. 26, 1831.
290
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