Niccolò Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, humanist, and Renaissance writer. He was considered to be the father of modern political science, and his 1513 treatise The Prince - which described the ideal ruler as one who ruled through fear instead of love - would become an important source of inspiration for several world leaders, especially fascists.
Biography[]
Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence, Republic of Florence in 1469, and he worked as a diplomat in Rome during the early 1500s. From 1503 to 1506, he commanded the militia of Florence, and his soldiers defeated Pisa in 1509. Machiavelli continued to be a high-ranking official of Florence for years, and he wrote his famous work The Prince in 1513. Machiavelli was often mistaken for a proto-fascist and an advocate for dictatorship because of his work, but some have posited that The Prince describes an effective ruler, not an ideal one. He was actually a proponent of modern democratic political philosophy and supported republicanism, and he admired the selfless Roman leader Cincinnatus. He died in Florence in 1527 at the age of 58.
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