author
J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
1773–1842
A sharp early critic of unchecked industrial capitalism, this Swiss historian and political economist wrote with unusual sympathy for ordinary people. He is remembered both for his sweeping histories of Italy and France and for economic ideas that later thinkers took seriously.
16 Audiobooks
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 05 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 03 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 04 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 11 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 07 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 16 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 10 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 15 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 14 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 13 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 09 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 12 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 08 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 01 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 06 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
Storia delle repubbliche italiane dei secoli di mezzo, v. 02 (of 16)
by J.-C.-L. Simonde de (Jean-Charles-Léonard Simonde) Sismondi
About the author
Born in Geneva in 1773, J.-C.-L. Simonde de Sismondi became known as both a historian and a political economist. He first wrote in the tradition of Adam Smith, but his views changed as he watched the social damage caused by rapid industrial and commercial change.
His economic writing is especially known for warning that free competition and production without limits could bring hardship, instability, and crises. In Nouveaux principes d'économie politique (1819), he argued that economies should be judged not only by wealth but by human well-being, which helped make him an important early critic of laissez-faire ideas.
Sismondi was also a major historian. His large-scale works on the Italian republics of the Middle Ages and on the French people gave him a wide readership in 19th-century Europe. He died near Geneva in 1842, leaving a legacy that connects history, economics, and social concern.