Michel Eyquem de Montaigne is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and is popularly thought of as the father of Modern Skepticism. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography-and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. (Summary extracted from Wikipedia)