Niccolò Machiavelli

A Florentine diplomat and civil servant who spent fourteen years on the republic's business, then lost his post when the Medici returned in 1512. In forced retirement he wrote The Prince, the Discourses on Livy, a history of Florence and a comedy, The Mandrake, which did better on stage than he did in politics. His name became an adjective, which he did not live to see.