Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527), occasionally rendered in English as Nicholas Machiavel, was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise The Prince (Il Principe), written in about 1513 but not published until 1532. He has often been called the father of modern political philosophy and political science.
