Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, 1727-1781. Jacques Turgot (Baron de l'Aulne) was perhaps the leading economist of 18th Century France. Although often lumped together with Quesnay and the Physiocrats, his contributions were quite distinct and advanced considerably upon Physiocratic theories. Turgot can be said to have formed a distinct school of his own, counting the Abbe Morellet and the Marquis de ...