Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher, known as the sage of Chelsea, whose writing shaped Victorian intellectual life. Born in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, he studied at the University of Edinburgh and made his name with Sartor Resartus and The French Revolution: A History. His 1840 lectures, published as On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, set out the view that world history is largely the work of exceptional individuals, an idea later named the Great Man theory and taken up in studies of leadership and management. He founded the London Library and served as Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh in 1865. His reputation declined after the two world wars, when his philosophy was read as a forerunner of fascism, and later scholarship has improved his standing.