Henri Fayol was born in Istanbul in 1841. When he was 19, he began working as an engineer at a large mining company in France. He eventually became the director, at a time when the mining company employed more than 1,000 people.
Through the years, Fayol began to develop what he considered to be the 14 most important principles of management. Essentially, these explained how managers should organize and interact with staff.
In 1916, two years before he stepped down as director, he published his "14 Principles of Management" in the book "Administration Industrielle et Generale." Fayol also created a list of the six primary functions of management, which go hand in hand with the Principles.
Fayol's "14 Principles" was one of the earliest theories of management to be created, and remains one of the most comprehensive. He's considered to be among the most influential contributors to the modern concept of management, even though people don't refer to "The 14 Principles" often today.
The theory falls under the Administrative Management school of thought (as opposed to the Scientific Management school, led by Fredrick Taylor).