Baruch Spinoza (; ; born
Benedito de Espinosa, ; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677, later
Benedict de Spinoza) was a
Dutch philosopher of
Sephardi Portuguese origin. The breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until many years after his death. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century
Enlightenment and modern
biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great
rationalists of
17th-century philosophy.