Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) retired at age 38 to the circular library tower of his family château in Aquitaine, weary of public life and the blood-soaked French Wars of Religion. There, surrounding himself with a thousand classical volumes and Greek maxims carved into the oak beams, he created a brand-new literary and philosophical form: the *Essais*.

With warmth, unflinching candor, and gentle humor, Montaigne took himself as his own subject of study, examining everything from friendship, fear, and cannibals to thumb-sucking and death. His skepticism crystallized in the famous motto 'Que sais-je?' (What do I know?), defending tolerance against fanaticism.