Montesquieu

Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755), was a French political philosopher. Born near Bordeaux, he inherited in 1716 his family title and the office of président à mortier of the Bordeaux Parlement.

He won fame with the Persian Letters (1721), a satirical portrait of French society seen through Persian visitors, sold his judicial office in 1726, and entered the Académie Française in 1728. He then toured Europe, spending more than a year in England.

After years of travel and study he published The Spirit of the Laws (1748), which divided government into legislative, executive and judicial powers; the Church placed it on the Index in 1751.