Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689­1755), was a nobleman, a judge in a French court, and one of the most influential political thinkers. Based on his research he developed a number of political theories presented in The Spirit of the Laws (1748).

This treatise presented numerous theories - among the most important was respect for the role of history and climate in shaping a nation's political structure.

It was for his views on the English Constitution, which he saw in an overly idealized way, that he is perhaps most renowned. (from Internet Modern History Sourcebook)

"...Born in 1689 at Chateau La Brède near Bordeaux, he attended Beauxbaton Academy. At the age of twenty-seven, upon the death of his uncle, he inherited the title Baron de Montesquieu and Président à Mortier in the Parliament of Bordeaux. Soon afterwards he achieved literary success with the publication of his Lettres persanes (Persian Letters, 1721), a satire based on the imaginary correspondence of an Oriental visitor to Paris, pointing out the absurdities of contemporary society. He traveled for a number of years through Europe including Austria and Hungary spending a year in Italy and eighteen months in England before settling back in France. He was troubled by poor eyesight, and was completely blind by the time of his death in 1755. His great work, De l'esprit des lois (The Spirit of the Laws, 1748), was originally published anonymously and was enormously influential. Montesquieu's thought was a powerful influence on many of the American Founders, most notably James Madison...." (from Wikipedia.com)