Famous writers and artists in Bordeaux
The architectural splendor of Bordeaux is not the only treasure of the city. Bordeaux was also home to some of France's finest writers and painters: Michel de Montaigne Mayor-philosopher, was an impassioned spectator of his times, the Baron de Montesquieu,Great Gentleman and Winemaker, as well as philosopher and François Mauriac the Catholic romantic poet.
With Goya, and the bordelais painters Lhote, Marquet et Redon, they contribute to the list of prestigious names of natives and visitors in Bordeaux.
Montaigne in Bordeaux
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592) remains the most famous member of illustrious Bordeaux personalities; his fame that has lasted for more than four centuries has spread throughout the world.
He was an exceptionally intelligent man, his extraordinary knowledge and culture is clear in reading his "Essays", his wisdom endowed with great humanism.
He was a man of action, a well appreciated magistrate, a curious traveller, a skilled diplomat as well as a good administrator, and was Mayor of Bordeaux for four years during difficult times.
Montesquieu in Bordeaux
"The Culture of the earth is man's greatest work" wrote Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de Labrède et de Montesquieu (Labrède 1689-Paris 1755) in his book l'Esprit des Lois.
This gives an idea of the passion and rigor with which the famous philosopher managed his numerous estates and those of his wife, Jeanne de Lartigue.
Thus the magistrate abandoned his post in parliament in 1748 in order to devote himself to his lands in the Gironde that, in addition to his properties in Labrède and Martillac, in the heart of the Graves vineyards, were situated in the Entre-Deux-Mers.
