Courcelle-Seneuil, Jean Gustave (1813–1892)

Abstract

French economist and economic adviser. Born in the Dordogne, he studied law in Paris, then returned to his native region to manage an industrial firm. At the same time, during the July monarchy, he wrote for Republican newspapers and economic periodicals. After the 1848 revolution, he held briefly a high position in the Ministry of Finance. In the following years he became a frequent contributor to the Journal des économistes, and published a successful textbook on banking in 1852. In 1853, the Chilean government contracted him to teach economics at the University of Chile in Santiago, and to be available as official economic adviser; he stayed for ten years, until 1863, when he returned to France. While in Chile he published his most ambitious work in economics, the Traité théorique et pratique d’économie politique (1858), which the Chilean government arranged to bring out in a Spanish translation. After his return to France, he resumed his activity as prolific writer of books and articles on economic affairs. He also published several works on political and historical topics and translated into French John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy, Summer Maine’s Ancient Law and William Graham Sumner’s What Social Classes Owe to Each Other. He was appointed councillor of state in 1879, and three years later was elected member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques.