Historical Figures Codexery

Frédéric Bastiat

French economist and free-market advocate

The economist and writer Claude-Frédéric Bastiat, who served in the French National Assembly, is credited with formulating the concept of opportunity cost and the broken window parable.[1][2] Economic theorist Joseph Schumpeter referred to Bastiat as "the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived".[2]

Quick Facts

Office
Member of the National Assembly; for Landes
Took office
23 April 1848
Left office
24 December 1850
Birth name
Claude-Frédéric Bastiat
Born
30 June 1801
Birthplace
Bayonne, France
Place of death
Rome, Papal States
Resting place
San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

His grandfather Pierre Bastiat acquired the estate of Sengresse at an auction on 9 June 1795, making it the family residence.[3] Bastiat's parents both died in the early 1800s, and he was raised by his grandfather and aunt.[4] In 1818, he worked as a junior clerk for his uncle Henry Monclar in the family trading firm.[5] After inheriting the Sengresse estate in 1825, he withdrew from commerce to become a gentleman farmer and study agronomy.[6]

Bastiat contracted tuberculosis, which prevented him from making further speeches and cut his life short.[7] Membership in the Masonic lodge La Zélée was granted to Bastiat in 1821; his grandfather and father had previously belonged to it.[8] Bastiat became Mugron's justice of the peace in 1831, and a year later, in 1832, he was elected to the Landes Council General.[9] Following the 1848 French Revolution, Bastiat won a seat in the national legislative assembly.[10]

Bastiat passed away on 24 December 1850 in Rome, with his burial site being the church of San Luigi dei Francesi.[7]

What the cited sources add

The Dupouy conference account notes that Bastiat's grandfather Pierre Bastiat married Catherine Laulhé on 15 May 1770.[4] The same source states that the Bastiat family was progressively decimated by tuberculosis, with multiple members dying between 1800 and 1810.[4] The Bastiat.org translation of "The Law" includes a translator's note stating that Bastiat knew he was dying of tuberculosis when he wrote the work.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Frederic Bastiat", 2 July 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Initiated in 1820 at "La Zélée" lodge in Bayonne (La Franc-maçonnerie à Bayonne, 1980).; "Frederic Bastiat", 2 July 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017; Cuzacq, "La vie landaise et bayonnaise de Frédéric Bastiat, 1801-1850", P. Pradeu, 1953; Dupouy, "Les Lamaignère : Une famille de négociants à Bayonne, Nantes, Le Havre, aux Isles (1650-1850)", Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2010; Dupouy, "Les Lamaignère : Une famille de négociants à Bayonne, Nantes, Le Havre, aux Isles (1650-1850)", Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2010; Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à en.wikipedia.org
  4. Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017. facts only, no text reused. bastiat.net
  5. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017; Roche III, "Frédéric Bastiat: A Man Alone", Arlington House, 1971; Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017; Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017; Leroux 2011, p. 11 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017; Roche III, "Frédéric Bastiat: A Man Alone", Arlington House, 1971; Leroux 2011, p. 11; Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017; Leroux 2011, p. 11; Leroux 2011, p. 11; Candau, "Frédéric Bastiat et la Chalosse, impressions et souvenirs de la fête nationale célébrée en sa mémoire, à Mugron, le 23 avril 1878", Amadis Serres, 1878 (we a en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Roche III, "Frédéric Bastiat: A Man Alone", Arlington House, 1971 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dupouy, "Les années d'apprentissage à Bayonne de Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)", Cercle Frédéric Bastiat, 16 September 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leroux 2011, p. 11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Bastiat" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thornton, Mark (11 April 2011) "Why Bastiat Is Still Great". Mises Institute. Retrieved 1 August 2019. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "The Law". Bastiat.org.. facts only, no text reused. bastiat.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Frédéric Bastiat (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Scientists & Inventors

Ronald CoaseRagnar FrischThomas Robert MalthusKarl MarxCarl MengerLuca PacioliVilfredo ParetoJoseph SchumpeterFrancis FukuyamaThomas PaineAyn RandMurray Rothbard

Elsewhere in Historical Figures

Lawrence Alma-Tadema · Artists & ComposersAriovistus · Rulers & LeadersEdvard Munch · Notable FiguresA. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada · Notable FiguresHumphry Davy · Notable FiguresBilly Bob Thornton · Writers & Journalists

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →