Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard lawyer, diplomat, writer, and philosopher. He was the most influential spokesmen for hierarchical authoritarianism in the period immediately following the French Revolution of 1789. Despite his close personal and intellectual ties to France, Maistre remained throughout his life a loyal subject of the King of Sardinia, whom he served as member of the Savoy Senate (1787 1792), ambassador to Russia (1803 1817), and minister of state to the court in Turin (1817 1821).