biography
| name: |
Montesquieu, Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de
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pronunciation:
[mõteskyoe]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1689–1755)
|
| biography:
| Philosopher and jurist, born at Château La Brède near Bordeaux, SW France. Educated at Bordeaux, he became an advocate, but turned to scientific research and literary work. He settled in Paris (1726), then spent some years travelling and studying political and social institutions. His best-known work is the comparative study of legal and political issues, De l'esprit des lois (1748, The Spirit of Laws), which was a major influence on 18th-c Europe and inspired the American Constitution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. He is best remembered for his theory of the separation of powers. Dividing authority into legislative, executive, and judicial powers, his argument was that each of these three powers should be independent of the other. |
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