Baron de Montesquieu’s Life and Vision

Abstract

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brède and Montesquieu, was born at the chateau of La Brède, near Bordeaux, on 18 January 1689. His ancestors were soldiers and magistrates and he himself trained to be a lawyer. He was educated at the College of the Oratorians near Paris from the age of 11, and at 16 returned to the University of Bordeaux to continue his study of law. In 1708, at age 19, he was admitted to the bar as an avocat au Parlement. Further studies in Paris, probably as a law clerk, between 1709 and 1713 took place before his father’s death in 1713 (his mother had died in 1696). He married Jeanne Lartigue in 1715; in 1716 his uncle died, so he took the name Montesquieu formally and became président à mortier at Bordeaux. In 1721 his Les Lettres Persanes were published anonymously in Holland and were a great success; he became a member of various salons in Paris. In 1726 he sold his office of president in Bordeaux and in effect retired from legal life.