Gabriel Bonnot de Mably

Born in Grenoble on March 14, 1709, Gabriel Bonnot de Mably — often known as the Abbé de Mably — was a French philosopher, historian, and writer. He came from a prominent legal family and was the elder brother of the philosopher Étienne Bonnot de Condillac. For a short time he served in the diplomatic world, but he became best known through his writing.

Mably wrote widely on politics, history, and ethics, and he was a well-known author in the 18th century. His work often praised civic virtue, simplicity, and equality, while criticizing luxury and corruption. Because of those ideas, later generations often saw him as an important precursor to revolutionary and republican thought in France.

He died in Paris on April 2, 1785. Today he is remembered as one of the more distinctive political voices of the French Enlightenment, especially for the seriousness with which he asked what justice and good government should look like.