Étienne de La Boétie

(1530 - 1563)

A civil servant, humanist scholar, and writer, Étienne de La Boétie studied law at the University of Orléans and died in 1563 from an intestinal illness, with his close friend Michel de Montaigne by his bedside for most of his final days. Of his death, Montaigne wrote, “It would be nothing but happiness for you, but the loss would be mine, for I would lose the company of so great, so wise, and so sure a friend, such a friend that I would be certain never to find another like him.” His political treatise Discourse on Voluntary Servitude became influential after his death.