Michel de Montaigne

The father of Modern Skepticism, Michel De Montaigne was an influential and key figure of the French Renaissance. He is best known for his essays which are considered to be the best of all times. Montaigne is also associated with establishing the essay as a recognized genre in literature. He was the first person to use the word ‘essay’ to describe his writings. Today, it can be said that Montaigne was the first blogger. His brilliantly written essays are admired for their effortless mix of serious intellectual thoughts and humorous anecdotes. Montaigne’s huge volume of essays, Essais is still considered to be the finest collection of essays which influenced many other famous writers such as René Descartes, Isaac Asimov and William Shakespeare.