ECONOMIST

Adam Smith

1723 - 1790

Photo of Adam Smith

Icon of person Adam Smith

Adam Smith (baptised 16 June [O.S. 5 June] 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics" or "The Father of Capitalism", he wrote two classic works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work that treats economics as a comprehensive system and an academic discipline. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Adam Smith has received more than 10,445,760 page views. His biography is available in 157 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 150 in 2019). Adam Smith is the most popular economist, the 2nd most popular biography from United Kingdom and the most popular British Economist.

Adam Smith is most famous for his book "The Wealth of Nations" which was published in 1776. In this book, Smith argues that the pursuit of self-interest leads to the betterment of society.

Memorability Metrics

  • 10M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 90.65

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 157

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 25.94

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.30

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ECONOMISTS

Among economists, Adam Smith ranks 1 out of 414. After him are Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, David Ricardo, Thomas Robert Malthus, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Vilfredo Pareto, Joseph Schumpeter, Frédéric Passy, and Alfred Marshall.

Most Popular Economists in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1723, Adam Smith ranks 1. After him are Baron d'Holbach, Frederick V of Denmark, Joshua Reynolds, Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Carl Friedrich Abel, Adam Ferguson, Prithvi Narayan Shah, Mathurin Jacques Brisson, Johann Bernhard Basedow, Jean-François Marmontel, and Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg. Among people deceased in 1790, Adam Smith ranks 1. After him are Benjamin Franklin, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg, Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy, Johann Bernhard Basedow, András Hadik, Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, Mohammed ben Abdallah, Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha, and Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim.

Others Born in 1723

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1790

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Adam Smith ranks 2 out of 8,785. Before him are Isaac Newton (1643). After him are William Shakespeare (1564), Charles Darwin (1809), Elizabeth II (1926), Lord Byron (1788), Charlie Chaplin (1889), Francis Bacon (1561), Elizabeth I of England (1533), John Locke (1632), Winston Churchill (1874), and James Watt (1736).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among ECONOMISTS In United Kingdom

Among economists born in United Kingdom, Adam Smith ranks 1. After him are John Maynard Keynes (1883), David Ricardo (1772), Thomas Robert Malthus (1766), John Stuart Mill (1806), Alfred Marshall (1842), John Law (1671), William Petty (1623), Ronald Coase (1910), William Stanley Jevons (1835), John Hicks (1904), and Benjamin Graham (1894).

British born Economists

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous