Michel Chevalier

author

Michel Chevalier

1806–1879

A French engineer turned economist and statesman, he helped shape 19th-century debates about industry, trade, and modern progress. He is especially remembered for promoting freer trade and for his vivid writings on the United States.

2 Audiobooks

L'isthme de Panama Examen historique et géographique des différentes directions suivant lesquelles on pourrait le percer et des moyens à y employer; suivi d'un aperçu sur l'isthme de Suez.

L'isthme de Panama Examen historique et géographique des différentes directions suivant lesquelles on pourrait le percer et des moyens à y employer; suivi d'un aperçu sur l'isthme de Suez.

by Michel Chevalier

Society, Manners and Politics in the United States Being a Series of Letters on North America

Society, Manners and Politics in the United States Being a Series of Letters on North America

by Michel Chevalier

About the author

Born in Limoges on January 13, 1806, Michel Chevalier trained at the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines before beginning his career as an engineer. In his early years he was drawn to Saint-Simonian ideas and worked as a journalist, a mix of technical expertise and public argument that would mark much of his life.

Chevalier later became one of France's best-known political economists. He taught at the Collège de France, advised the government of Napoleon III, and played an important role in the 1860 Cobden-Chevalier Treaty between France and Britain, a landmark agreement associated with freer trade.

He also wrote influential books, including Lettres sur l'Amérique du Nord, based on his travels in the United States. Those writings helped introduce readers to his energetic, practical interest in railways, commerce, industry, and the ways new technology could reshape society. He died on November 18, 1879.