Illuminista montesquieu biography

Charles de Montesquieu was a French lawyer and Enlightenment philosopher who has become best known for promoting the idea of the separation of powers in government as a means for securing the people's liberty, a principle that has been enshrined in the constitutions of many nations around the world.

Important Dates

• Born: January 18, 1689 in Château de la Brède (near Bordeaux, France).
• Died: February 10, 1755, in Paris, France
• Bordeaux Senate President: 1716 - 1726
• Admitted to the Academie Francaise: 1728

Specialization

Major Works

• Lettres persanes (Persian Letters, 1721)
• Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence (Considerations on the Causes of the Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans, 1734)
• De l'esprit des loix (Spirit of Laws, 1748)

Early Life

The son of a soldier and an heiress, Charles de Montesquieu, first studied to become a lawyer and even headed the criminal division of t