Quesnay, François

(1694-1774)

   physician, economist

   A surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu de Mantes and principal founder of the Physiocratic school, François Quesnay was born in Méré, île-de-france. After becoming physician to King louis XV, Quesnay, deeply interested in economics, wrote two articles on that subject ("Fermier," 1756; "Grains," 1757) for the Encyclopédie of denis diderot and for his own Tableau économique (1758), in which he presents his idea of the "natural law" of economics. Affirming that the sole source of wealth is agriculture, and that manufacturing, commerce, and industry, because they derive from it, were essentially nonproductive, Quesnay encouraged free trade in foodstuffs and asserted, with the other Physiocrats (mirabeau, condorcet, turgot), that economic laws must be allowed to act without interference for the prosperity of the nation (the principle of laissez-faire).