Joseph de Maistre

Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (i.e. sounding the "s" and rhyming with ''bourgmestre''); that is how it is usually heard at university and in historical movies (as in Sacha Guitry's 1948 film ). The pronunciation (rhymes with ''maître'') is sometimes heard under the influence of the modernized pronunciation, adopted by some descendants (such as Patrice de Maistre)}} (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Despite his close personal and intellectual ties with France, Maistre was throughout his life a subject of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which he served as a member of the Savoy Senate (1787–1792), ambassador to Russia (1803–1817), and minister of state to the court in Turin (1817–1821).

A key figure of the Counter-Enlightenment and a precursor of Romanticism, Maistre regarded monarchy both as a divinely sanctioned institution and as the only stable form of government. He called for the restoration of the House of Bourbon to the throne of France and for the ultimate authority of the Pope in both spiritual and temporal matters. Maistre argued that the rationalist rejection of Christianity was directly responsible for the Reign of Terror which followed the French Revolution of 1789. Provided by Wikipedia