Cesare Beccaria

Cesare, Marquis Beccaria
Cesare Beccaria portrait
Born	15 March 1738 Milan, Duchy of Milan, Austrian Empire
Died	28 November 1794 (aged 56) Milan, Duchy of Milan, Austrian Empire
Nationality	Italian
Occupation	Jurist, philosopher, politician, and criminologist
Spouse(s)	Anna Barbò
Children	Giulia Maria Giovanni Annibale Margherita Giulio (by Anna Barbò)

Cesare Bonesana-Beccaria, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio (Italian: [ˈtʃeːzare bekkaˈriːa]; 15 March 1738 – 28 November 1794) was an Italian criminologist,jurist, philosopher, and politician, who is widely considered as the most talented jurist and one of the greatest thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. Recognised to be one of the fathers of classical criminal theory and modern penology, 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 by promoting criminal justice.

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

Born in Milan on 15 March 1738, Beccaria received his early education in the Jesuit college at Parma. Subsequently, he graduated in law from the University of Pavia in 1758. At first he showed a great aptitude for mathematics, but studying Montesquieu (1689–1755) redirected his attention towards economics. In 1762 his first publication, a tract on the disorder of the currency in the Milanese states, included a proposal for its remedy.