Joseph de Maistre ( Chambery, Turin 1753- 1821 ) was educated by Jesuits at a local college , and later studied law at the University of Turin . Like his father, he was a member of the Senate of Savoy ( 1777-1779 ) . Later, before the French invasion in 1792 , he emigrated as a diplomat in Lausanne ( 1793-1797 ) and later to St. Petersburg ( 1803-1817 ) . More than for his political career, De Maistre is renowned for his ideas about violence , religion and politics in the era of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, which are expressed in various works , among which are : considerations France ( 1796 ) , Essay on the generative principle of political constitutions ( 1814 ) , about the Pope ( 1819 ) and St. Petersburg evenings ( 1821 ).