Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (French pronunciation: [ipɔlit adɔlf tɛn], 21 April 1828 – 5 March 1893) was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. Literary historicism as a critical movement has been said to originate with him.^[3] Taine is also remembered for his attempts to provide a scientific account of literature.