Filangieri, Gaetano

(fi-lan-je-air'e,) a celebrated writer on political economy and legislation, was B. in Naples, 1752. He was at first intended for the army, but being of studious habits, he was allowed to gratify his inclination for a literary life. His great work, entitled The Science of Legislation, notwithstanding it was never completed according to his original design, attracted great attention, from its bold and original views, and the liberality of its sentiments; and placed him in the rank of a first-rate writer upon one of the most difficult and important subjects that can engage the mind of man. In 1787 he was made a member of the supreme council of finance, and D. 1788.