Montesquieu (Laura Opishinski)

My name is Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, or better known as Montesquieu, an Enlightenment Thinker. I was born January 18, 1689. My mother died when I was seven, and as I grew older, I went to the Catholic College of Juilly to study. Many events were unfolding during my lifetime; England had become a Constitutional Monarchy, and had joined with Scotland. Five year old King Louis XV took the throne. During my lifetime, I wrote many literary marvels, the first I achieved success with was called "Lettres persanes," which means Persian Letters. I had a large influence on Britain, the British colonies in America, and other European countries, except France, who greatly disliked my works. As I grew older, and studied more, I developed advanced ideas of separation of power, believing that government should be split into three branches, and wrote "Spirit of the Laws," to discuss this theory. I died February 10, 1755.