T. R. (Thomas Robert) Malthus

Born in 1766, Thomas Robert Malthus was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, after being taught largely at home. He later became a fellow of the college and took holy orders, combining life as a clergyman with work as a scholar.

Malthus is remembered above all for An Essay on the Principle of Population, first published in 1798. In it, he argued that population could grow faster than the food supply, a claim that made him one of the most debated thinkers of his time and a major figure in early political economy.

He also taught history and political economy at the East India Company College, and his writing influenced later economists and social thinkers even when they strongly disagreed with him. He died in 1834, but the arguments attached to his name have never really gone away.