Anne Robert Jacques Turgot

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot
Portrait by François-Hubert Drouais, c.1775
First Minister of State
In office
24 August 1774  12 May 1776
MonarchLouis XVI
Preceded byRené Nicolas de Maupeou
Succeeded byThe Count of Maurepas
Controller-General of Finances
In office
24 August 1774  12 May 1776
MonarchLouis XVI
Preceded byJoseph Marie Terray
Succeeded byBaron de Nuits
Secretaries of State for the Navy
In office
20 July 1774  24 August 1774
MonarchLouis XVI
Preceded byMarquis de Boynes
Succeeded byAntoine de Sartine
Personal details
Born(1727-05-10)10 May 1727
Paris, France
Died18 March 1781(1781-03-18) (aged 53)
Paris, France
influencedCondorcet · Maistre · Rothbard · Schumpeter · Smith · Marx · Keynes
Signature
Academic background
Alma materSorbonne
InfluencesMontesquieu · Quesnay
Academic work
DisciplinePolitical economics
School or traditionPhysiocrats

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne (/tʊərˈɡ/ toor-GOH; French: [an ʁɔbɛʁ ʒak tyʁɡo]; 10 May 1727  18 March 1781), commonly known as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Sometimes considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an early advocate for economic liberalism. He is thought to have been the first political economist to have postulated something like the law of diminishing marginal returns in agriculture.