Benjamin Constant

Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (; 25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss-French political activist and writer on political theory and religion.

A committed republican from 1795, he backed the coup d'état of ''18 Fructidor'', (4 September 1797) and the following one on ''18 brumaire'', (9 November 1799). During the ''Consulat'', in 1800 he became the leader of the Liberal Opposition. Having upset Napoleon and left France to go to Switzerland then to the Kingdom of Saxony, he nonetheless sided with Napoleon during the Hundred Days and became politically active again during the French Restoration. He was elected Député in 1818 and remained in post until his death in 1830. Head of the Liberal opposition, known as ''Indépendants'', he was one of the most notable orators of the Chamber of Deputies of France, as a proponent of the parliamentary system. During the July Revolution, he was a supporter of Louis Philippe I ascending the throne.

He was the author of numerous essays on political and religious themes, and also wrote on romantic love, such as the autobiographical ''Le Cahier rouge'' (1807) which gives an account of his love for Madame de Staël, whose protégé and collaborator he became, especially in the Coppet circle, and a successful novella, ''Adolphe'' (1816).

He was a fervent classical liberal of the early 19th century.

He refined the concept of liberty, defining it as a condition of existence that allowed the individual to turn away interference from the state or society. His ideas influenced the Trienio Liberal movement in Spain, the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Portugal, the Greek War of Independence, the November uprising in Poland, the Belgian Revolution, and liberalism in Brazil and Mexico. Provided by Wikipedia