The world’s first influencers were French and they emerged after the Revolution

A painting by Jacques-Louis David of French socialite and Neoclassical icon Madame Récamier whose salon in Paris attracted leading literary and political circles in the early 19th-century. Wikimedia In 1806, the Parisian gastronome Grimod de la Reynière launched a new periodical, the Journal des Gourmands et des Belles in post-revolutionary France. From the first issue, it set out to provide readers with advice on food, fashion, and theatrical life, all in one publication. Almost entirely…