Edmund Burke

12 January 1729 – 9 July 1797

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was an Irish-born British statesman, orator, and political thinker who served in the House of Commons for nearly three decades. He supported the American colonists' grievances, prosecuted Warren Hastings over misrule in India, and wrote the influential aesthetic treatise on the sublime and beautiful. His Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) made him a founding figure of modern conservatism.

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Life events

Born in Dublin, Ireland
12 January 1729

Edmund Burke was born in Dublin on 12 January 1729 (New Style) to a Protestant father and Catholic mother.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Studied at Trinity College Dublin
1744 – 1748

Burke entered Trinity College Dublin in 1744, founded a debating club there, and graduated in 1748.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to London to study law at the Middle Temple
1750

Burke relocated to London in 1750 to read law but abandoned legal studies for a literary career.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Jane Nugent
1757

In 1757 Burke married Jane Nugent, daughter of the Catholic physician who had treated him in Bath.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
1757

Burke's 1757 treatise on aesthetics attracted wide attention across Europe, influencing Kant and Diderot.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Elected to the House of Commons
December 1765

Burke entered Parliament in December 1765 for the borough of Wendover and quickly emerged as a leading voice of the Rockingham Whigs.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Delivered his speeches on American taxation and conciliation with the colonies
1774 – 1775

In 1774 and 1775 Burke made celebrated speeches urging Britain to conciliate rather than coerce the American colonists.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Led the impeachment of Warren Hastings
1787 – 1795

Burke drove the impeachment of the former Governor-General of Bengal for misrule in India; the trial began in 1788 and ended in acquittal in 1795.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published Reflections on the Revolution in France
November 1790

The November 1790 polemic against the French Revolution became the foundational text of modern conservatism and provoked replies from Paine and Wollstonecraft.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
9 July 1797

Burke died at his country estate on 9 July 1797 and was buried in the local parish church.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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