Launay, Françoise <br/><br/>
Diderot and the Le Gall Brothers: Jules François (1705-1792) the Chess Player, and Claude François (c.1697-1767) the Deaf-Mute 

 -  2021.<br/>							 
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<br/><br/> On might suppose, given how long they have been discussed and studied, that the famous chess players cited byDiderot in his works and letters had today been perfectly identified. While that is true for Philidor, it is not the case of the ‘marquis de Legal’, about whom we have conducted an investigation.It is true that we were not very mistaken, as although it was not the person we thought it was up to now, it was his brother (who alone signed himself ‘Le Gall de Kermur’), in other words the youngest brother,Jules François de Le Gall. But what has been completely overlooked up till now is the fact that the eldest of the four Le Gall brothers, Claude François, was born deaf and dumb. Thus we are obviously tempted to identify him as the person who watched Diderot play while making friendly gestures.