Born near Bordeaux, he came from a provincial noble family. If he is studying law to become a lawyer, he is also passionate about science. He anonymously published his first work in 1721, the __Lettres persanes , which have met with great success. He travels to Europe, and particularly to England, where he observes the functioning of the parliamentary monarchy.
In 1748, he anonymously published L’Esprit des lois , which is put on the Index by the Pope. This work will be a landmark in the history of democratic ideas, since it inspires the writing of the 1791 Constitution from the perspective of liberalism, then in expansion:the legislative, judicial and executive powers must be separated. He thus attacks, with thinkers like Rousseau or Voltaire, the absolute monarchy to think of a fairer society. Montesquieu also participated in the writing of the Encyclopédie of Diderot and D'Alembert.
1689 - 1755
Status
Writer
Philosopher