thumb|right|Portrait of Guillaume Raynal.<br/> ([[Musée de la Révolution française).]]
Guillaume Thomas François Raynal (12 April 1713 – 6 March 1796), also known as Abbé Raynal, was a French writer, former Catholic priest, and man of letters during the Age of Enlightenment.
Early life
He was born at Lapanouse in Rouergue. He was educated at the Jesuit school of Pézenas, and received priest's orders, but he was dismissed for unexplained reasons from the parish of Saint-Sulpice, Paris. He became a writer and journalist, leaving the religious life.
In May 1754, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1775, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.
The Histoire philosophique des deux Indes
thumb|Histoire des deux Indes, 1770
He had the assistance of various members of the coterie philosophique in his most important work, L'Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements et du commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes (Philosophical and Political History of the Two Indies Amsterdam, 4 vols., 1770
The book examines the East Indies, South America, the West Indies, and North America. The final chapter comprises theory around the future of Europe as a whole. Raynal also examines commerce, religion, slavery, and other popular subjects, all from the perspective of the French Enlightenment. Additional versions of the book included maps of the discussed regions.
Later life
thumb|Histoire philosophique, 1794
Raynal went into exile, to Spa, and then to Berlin, where he was coolly received by Frederick the Great, in spite of his connection with the philosophe party.