Turgot , Anne-Robert Jacques , 1727-1781 , Baron de l'Aume , French economist and statesman

Anne-Robert Jacques Turgot (1727-1781) became a deputy solicitor general in January 1752 and later a counselor magistrate to the Parlement (supreme court of law) in Paris (December 1752). In 1753 he bought the office of examiner of petitions, and by 1761 Turgot had drawn enough attention to himself for Louis XV to accept his nomination as Intendant to the administrative region of Limoges. He occupied this post for 13 years and there displayed his extraordinary capacities as an administrator, reformer, and economist. He was appointed comptroller general by Louis XIV on 24 Aug 1774, and tried unsuccessfully to institute financial reform.