Nicolas Baudeau () (25 April 1730 - 1792) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, who was born in

Amboise Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court. Geography Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Biography

Baudeau became a monk at Chancelade Abbey, where he taught theology. In 1765 he founded the first economics periodical to be published in France, ''Éphémérides du citoyen'', and was at first an opponent of the

physiocrats Physiocracy (; from the Greek for "government of nature") is an economic theory developed by a group of 18th-century Age of Enlightenment French economists who believed that the wealth of nations derived solely from the value of "land agricultur ...

. In 1766, however, he became a proponent of physiocracy. He died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1792. The French word ''"économiste"'' first appeared in print in a book by Baudeau. Early usage of the concept of an "

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

" can also be attributed to Baudeau. One of Baudeau's influential works, ''Idées d'un citoyen sur l'administration des finances du Roi'', was critical of the commission established in 1764 by Clément Charles François de Laverdy for the purpose of drafting new laws on vagabonds, beggars, and the central distribution of alms. Baudeau argued that the governmental provision of alms to the poor was a more important goal than the passing of laws prohibiting poverty. In 1768, Baudeau was recruited by

Ignacy Jakub Massalski Prince Ignacy Massalski ( lt, Ignotas Jokūbas Masalskis) (1726–1794) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman. Ignacy became a Catholic priest and was named Bishop of Vilnius by Pope Clement XIII on 29 March 1762.''Hierarchia Catholica medii et recen ...

, the

Bishop of Vilnius Bishops of Vilnius (Vilna, Wilna, Wilno) diocese from 1388 and archdiocese (archdiocese of Vilnius) from 1925:

, in order to bring physiocratic ideas to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. The main focus of his work there had to do with facilitating exports of Polish grain to France. Baudeau died in 1792 in Paris.

References

External links

Baudeau's Works
from th
French Wikisource
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudeau, Nicolas 1730 births 1792 deaths People from Amboise Physiocrats 18th-century French economists 18th-century French theologians