Adam Smith

Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, in 1723. He studied at the University of Glasgow and Balliol College, Oxford, before becoming a professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow. His first major work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), explored the foundations of human ethics. However, his enduring literary legacy rests on An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). This comprehensive treatise analyzed the division of labor, the nature of markets, and the role of self-interest in generating economic prosperity. Smith's concepts of the 'invisible hand' and free trade profoundly influenced classical economics and shaped modern capitalist thought. He spent his later years as a commissioner of customs in Edinburgh, where he died in 1790. His work remains a cornerstone of economic literature.