1-152-646 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, French politician and economist, early 19th century. Turgot (1727-1781) was an advocate of free trade and laissez-faire principles in economics. As comptroller-general of finances (1774-1776), he advocated radical reforms to the French economy and taxation system. His policies, particularly edicts abolishing guilds and levying taxation on all, including the nobility, made Turgot many enemies, and Louis XVI was persuaded to demand his resignation. Turgot's edicts were repealed, but his conviction that the only alternative to radical reform was revolution proved to be correct in 1789.