Michel de Montaigne was a 16th century French scholar known as the father of the essay. Through his personal essays, he explored himself and examined his own life experiences and feelings. He used himself as a subject to understand human nature. Montaigne was skeptical of religious dogma and preferred to solve problems without emotion. He is regarded as pioneering the essay as a literary form focused on individual experiences and perspectives.

4. -Montaigne’s essays were very personal. He lived through them and put
his feelings and experiences on paper. He is surely a very remarkable
piece of history in the literature world.
-Through his essays he used himself as a tool. He learned to step outside
of himself and look at himself as an object that needed to be un-puzzled
and figured out.
-Through his essays, he experiences life and through times of trial he is
longing to find out who he is.
-His writings are unscrupulous and easy to read.
-He is a person who accepts life and people for the way they are. Is very
understanding.
-He was the first person to describe his work as “essays”
-He was named “The Father of Skepticism.”
-“solving matters without the intervention of unnecessary emotions,
attempting to get rid of worldly commitments to prepare for death or
revealing his hatred for religious conflicts.”
-Montaigne did not like religious conflicts within his work. He didn’t
relate any life answers to any religion.

5. Timeline
1533 Born near Bordeaux on the family estate named Montaigne to wealthy merchant and a mother from a
wealthy Spanish-Portugese Jewish family from Toulouse.
1539 After six years of being raised by servants who only spoke Latin to him, Montaingne is sent to the college de
Guienne in Bordeaux, a highly reputable school at the time.
1546 Sent to the University of Toulouse to study law.
1554 Made counceller in the Bordeaux parliament. Travels to Paris frequently and lives a life of excess.
1565 Marries Francoise de la Chassaigne, the daughter of another Bordeaux parliament member.
1568 His father dies.
1569 Publishes his translation of Raymond Seybond's Theologia naturalis which he had worked on at his father's
request
1571 Retires to Montaigne to a life of study and contemplation. Receives the order of Saint-Michel.
1576 Writes "The Defense of Raymond Seybond."
1580 Publication of the first two volumes of his Essays. He travles to Paris to present a copy to the king and then sets
out for Germany and Italy. These travels are described in his Travel Journal.
1581 While in Rome, receives word that he is elected mayor of Bordeaux and returns to France.
1588 Complete edition of the Essays published with the addition of the third volume.
1592 September 13, Montaigne dies at the Chateau de Montaigne.
1595 Mlle. de Gournay and Pierre de Brach publishes the authorized edition of the Essays.

7. -What Kind of person do you think Michel de
Montaigne is?
-Do you think Michel de Montaigne is depressed
or do you think he is just intact with his feelings?
-Do you agree with the public for naming him
“The Father of Skepticism?”
-Does Montaigne’s personality make you want to
read his work?

8. “Montaigne, Michel de.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 1957.
“Montaigne, Michel de.” Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1967.
“Montaigne, Michel de.” The Essays. Ed. and Trans. George B. Ives.
New York: The Heritage Press, 1946.
www.famousauthors.org
Pictures:
www.chateau-montaigne.com