Niccolo Machiavelli was the man who taught the world that, in politics, being nice is optional - but being smart is mandatory. Born in Florence in 1469, he lived in the midst of Renaissance intrigue, working as a diplomat and spying on the power games of the time. After losing his job and even receiving some basic torture, he decided to take revenge on fate by writing ‘The Prince’, a manual on how rulers should act without a guilty conscience (and if you need to deceive or terrify, do it with style).

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Unfortunately, his work was so successful that his name became synonymous with cheating, when in fact he was just being realistic. He died in 1527, without recovering his political prestige, but leaving a legacy that to this day is compulsory reading for anyone who wants to understand a little better how society works.