Claude-Frédéric Bastiat was a French economist, writer, and member of the French Liberal School. He was born on 30 June 1801 in Bayonne, Aquitaine, a port town on the Bay of Biscay. His work The Law, in which he made the case that the law should safeguard rights like private property rather than ""plunder,"" made him the most well-known author.
His mother passed away when he was seven years old, and his father, Pierre Bastiat, was a well-known businessman. He acquired academic interests in a variety of subjects, including politics, philosophy, and religion.
Bastiat died in 1850 from TB, most likely while on one of his trips around France. Before passing away on December 24, 1850, he muttered ""the truth"" twice. He stated in The Law, ""I shall preach this idea with all the might of my lungs till the day of my death.""
Bastiat passed away in Rome and is buried at San Luigi dei Francesi in the heart of the city. On his deathbed, he stated that his close friend Gustave de Molinari, who published Bastiat's book The Law in 1850, was his spiritual heir.