Michel de Montaigne

About the author

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) stands as one of the most significant writers of the French Renaissance, credited with popularizing the essay as a literary genre. Born and died in Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne, he built a body of work — his celebrated Essais — that blended casual anecdote, autobiography, and intellectual inquiry in ways his contemporaries often dismissed as self-indulgent. Paradoxically, he was more admired in his lifetime as a statesman than as an author.

Over time, his sceptical motto, "What do I know?", came to embody the spirit of critical thought and open inquiry, and his influence on Western literature proved lasting and profound.