Forbonnais, François Véron Duverger de (1722–1800)

Abstract

French economist, industrialist and inspector of commerce, Forbonnais was born at Le Mans in 1722 and died in Paris in 1800. After initial employment in industry and trade in Nantes, his desire to obtain an official position in the government services (successful in 1756 when he was appointed general inspector of currency) inspired his career as a writer on economic and financial subjects. These all have a strong mercantilist flavour, and also display considerable antagonism to the Physiocrats. Forbonnais contributed a number of economic articles to the Encyclopédie and provided translations of some important writings on commerce. These include King’s The British Merchant (1721) and Uztariz’s Theory and Practice of Commerce (1724), the former translation according to Morellet (1821) inspired by Gournay.