Alexis Charles Henri Clerel (Alexis) de Tocqueville (1805–59)

French statesman and political writer. Studied law in Paris, 1823–6. Visited the United States, 1831–2, and England in 1833. Wrote his major work, De la démocratie en Amérique, between 1832 and 1834. Wrote numerous works on democracy, prison reform, French colonial possessions, and the abolition of slavery.