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John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, 1st Baron Acton, described as “the magistrate of history”, was born in Naples, Italy, on 10 January 1834.
He was the grandson of the Neapolitan admiral and minister Sir John Acton, who served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Naples under Ferdinand IV and was a favourite of his wife, Queen Maria Carolina .

He is popularly remembered for his pungent aphorism:

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority.”

He also stated:

“There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.”

“A State which is incompetent to satisfy different races condemns itself; a State which labours to neutralise, to absorb, or to expel them, destroys its own vitality; a State which does not include them is destitute of the chief basis of self-government. The theory of nationality, therefore, is a retrograde step in history.”

“History is not a web woven with innocent hands. Among all the causes which degrade and demoralize men, power is the most constant and the most active.”