Anne Robert Jacques Turgot

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne, was a French economist and statesman, sometimes considered a physiocrat and best remembered as an early advocate of economic liberalism. As intendant of Limoges in 1761–1774 he sought a fairer assessment of the taille and replaced the corvée with a money tax, and in 1766 he wrote his Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth. Appointed Controller-General of Finance by Louis XVI in 1774, he freed the grain trade and in 1776 presented the Six Edicts, which suppressed the corvées and the privileges of the craft guilds. Opposition at court forced his resignation in May 1776, and he spent his last years in scientific and literary study.