Editing Denis Diderot (section)

===Journey to Russia===
[[File:Diderot's travel from Paris to Saint Petersburg in 1773-1774 map-en.svg|thumb|300px|Diderot's travel from Paris to Saint Petersburg in 1773–1774. The '''blue line''' marks the outward from 3 June 1773 until 9 October 1773, and the '''red line''' marks the return journey 5 March 1774 to 21 October 1774.]]

When the Russian Empress [[Catherine the Great]] heard that Diderot was in need of money, she arranged to buy his library and appoint him caretaker of it until his death, at a salary of 1,000 livres per year. She even paid him 50 years salary in advance.<ref name=":0" /> Although Diderot hated traveling,<ref name=AoV />{{rp|674}} he was obliged to visit her.<ref name=AoV />{{rp|448}}

On 9 October 1773, he reached Saint Petersburg, met Catherine the next day and they had several discussions on various subjects. During his five-month stay at her court, he met her almost every day.<ref name=RaR />{{rp|448–449}} During these conversations, he would later state, they spoke 'man to man'.<ref name=RaR />{{rp|448}}<!--START OF NOTE-->{{refn|group=note|Diderot later narrated the following conversation as having taken place:

{{blockquote|''Catherine'': "You have a hot head, and I have one too. We interrupt each other, we do not hear what the other one says, and so we say stupid things."

''Diderot'': "With this difference, that when I interrupt your Majesty, I commit a great impertinence."

''Catherine'': "No, between men there is no such thing as impertinence."<ref name="Furbank 1992 379">{{cite book|title=Diderot: A Critical Biography|author=P.N. Furbank|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|page=379|year=1992}}</ref>}}  <!--END OF NOTE-->}}

He would occasionally make his point by slapping her thighs. In a letter to [[Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin|Madame Geoffrin]], Catherine wrote:

{{Blockquote|Your Diderot is an extraordinary man. I emerge from interviews with him with my thighs bruised and quite black. I have been obliged to put a table between us to protect myself and my members.<ref name=RaR />{{rp|448}}}}
One of the topics discussed was Diderot's ideas about how to transform Russia into a utopia. In a letter to [[Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur|Comte de Ségur]], the Empress wrote that if she followed Diderot's advice, chaos would ensue in her kingdom.<ref name=RaR />{{rp|448}}