Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat

French man of letters and political philosopher; after Voltaire the most important cultural influence in France and in Europe in the first half of the 18th century. Montesquieu was born at and spent his first years on the family estate La Brède south of Bordeaux. His father was of proud aristocratic stock, descended from a long line of civil servants. It was therefore assumed that his oldest son would be following in his footsteps. Charles-Louis lost his mother when he was seven years old, and a few years later he was sent away to Paris where he attended one of the best schools in the country, the Catholic college of Juilly. Although he would later describe the school in critical terms, it was where he first encountered the classics, mainly the literature of ancient Rome, which came to have an important impact on his future career. He then studied law in Bordeaux and Paris before he took over the family estate with its forests and vineyards when his father died in 1713. In accordance with family tradition he purchased the post of "conseiller" at the court of justice in Bordeaux.