PHILOSOPHER

Michel de Montaigne

1533 - 1592

Photo of Michel de Montaigne

Icon of person Michel de Montaigne

Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( mon-TAYN; French: [miʃɛl ekɛm də mɔ̃tɛɲ]; Middle French: [miˈʃɛl ejˈkɛm də mõnˈtaɲə]; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as a literary genre. His work is noted for its merging of casual anecdotes and autobiography with intellectual insight. Montaigne had a direct influence on numerous writers of Western literature; his Essais contain some of the most influential essays ever written. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Michel de Montaigne is the 42nd most popular philosopher (up from 61st in 2019), the 57th most popular biography from France (up from 91st in 2019) and the 4th most popular French Philosopher.

Michel de Montaigne is most famous for his essays, which are written in a personal and informal style.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Michel de Montaigne by language

Loading...

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Michel de Montaigne ranks 42 out of 1,267Before him are Parmenides, Søren Kierkegaard, Origen, Al-Farabi, Lucretius, and Rajneesh. After him are Sun Tzu, Empedocles, Plutarch, Anaximander, Protagoras, and David Hume.

Most Popular Philosophers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1533, Michel de Montaigne ranks 2Before him is Elizabeth I of England. After him are William the Silent, Stephen Báthory, Eric XIV of Sweden, Giacomo della Porta, Ismail II, Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Andrea Gabrieli, Catherine of Austria, Queen of Poland, Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Abdullah Khan II. Among people deceased in 1592, Michel de Montaigne ranks 1After him are John III of Sweden, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France, Jacopo Bassano, William the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Hümaşah Sultan, Bartolomeo Ammannati, Thomas Cavendish, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, and William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.

Others Born in 1533

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1592

Go to all Rankings

In France

Among people born in France, Michel de Montaigne ranks 57 out of 6,770Before him are Brigitte Bardot (1934), Édouard Manet (1832), Octave Mirbeau (1848), Henri Becquerel (1852), Eugène Delacroix (1798), and Stendhal (1783). After him are Pierre de Fermat (1601), Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1520), Philip IV of France (1268), Napoleon II (1811), Louis XVII of France (1785), and Gustave Eiffel (1832).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In France

Among philosophers born in France, Michel de Montaigne ranks 4Before him are René Descartes (1596), Montesquieu (1689), and Auguste Comte (1798). After him are Michel Foucault (1926), Henri Bergson (1859), Peter Abelard (1079), Roland Barthes (1915), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809), Jean Bodin (1530), Gilles Deleuze (1925), and Henri de Saint-Simon (1760).