Henri de Saint-Simon

French utopian socialist who advocated for a society governed by industrialists and scientists rather than aristocrats and priests — a major influence on positivism, socialism, and technocratic governance — whose followers developed the first systematic socialist movement.

Invented technocratic governance as a political ideal — Saint-Simon's argument that society should be reorganized by 'industrialists' (producers and scientists) rather than aristocrats created both the template for socialist organization and the technocratic vision of expert administration that has dominated modern governance.