Cesare Beccaria

Also known as Cesare Bonesana-Beccaria, Cesare Bonesana, Marquis of Beccaria

jurist, philosopher and politician from Italy (1738-1794)

AI overview

Cesare Beccaria was an Italian jurist, philosopher, and politician (1738-1794) who became influential through his ideas about law and justice. His work matters because he challenged harsh legal practices of his time and helped shape modern thinking about how criminal justice systems should operate.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Gender: male
Citizenship: Duchy of Milan
Place of birth: Milan
Place of death: Milan
Child: Giulia Beccaria
Occupation: economist
Educated at: University of Pavia
Employer: University of Milan
Languages spoken: Italian
Notable work: On Crimes and Punishments
Noble title: Marquess
Movement: Romanticism in Italy
Image: Cesare Beccaria in Dei delitti crop.jpg

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Commons Creator page: Cesare Beccaria
cause of death: stroke
Commons category: Cesare Beccaria
date of birth: 1738-03-15
date of death: 1794-11-20
described by source: New International Encyclopedia
manner of death: natural causes
influenced by: Pietro Verri
writing language: Italian

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Encyclopedic overview

Cesare Beccaria Bonesana, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio ( Italian: [ˈtʃeːzare bekkaˈriːa, ˈtʃɛː-]; 15 March 1738 – 28 November 1794) was an Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, economist, and politician. He is well remembered for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned torture and the death penalty, and was a founding work in the field of penology and the classical school of criminology. Beccaria is considered the father of modern criminal law and the father of criminal justice.

According to John Bessler, Beccaria's works had a profound influence on the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Cesare Beccaria” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.