Cesare Bonesana di Beccaria, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio (March 15, 1738 – November 28, 1794) is an Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, and politician, who is widely considered as the most talented jurist and one of the greatest thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment.

He is well remembered for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemn torture and the death penalty, and is a founding work in the field of penology and the Classical School of criminology.

Beccaria is considered the father of modern criminal law and the father of criminal justice.

According to John Bessler, Beccaria's works have a profound influence on the Founding Fathers of the United States. (John D. Bessler, The Birth of American Law: An Italian Philosopher and the American Revolution (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press))