Antoine Deparcieux (1703–1768) and Demographic Data Collection

In 1746, Antoine Deparcieux (1703–1768) published Essai sur les probabilités de la durée de la vie humaine [An Essay on the Probabilities of the Duration of Human Life]. Deparcieux analyzed in detail empirical observations. As a mathematician and physicist, he can be considered, after Halley and Struyck, one of the founders of the estimation of longevity and all the issues surrounding that concept. The article analyzes the statistical data Deparcieux presented in his book and examines the way he dealt with them. He criticized the methods of his predecessors and showed what, according to him, were “good” data. Although he only had lists of annuitants or ecclesiastical registers at his disposal and no data from the government or state, Deparcieux constructed his calculations with careful regard to the value and quality of the figures used. He also envisaged a specific project to collect data about infant mortality. His work holds an important place in the history of French demographic statistics