François Barbé-Marbois

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François Marquis de Barbé-Marbois (painting by Jean François Boisselat )

François Marquis de Barbé-Marbois (born January 31, 1745 in Metz , † February 12, 1837 in Paris ) was a French politician.

Life

Barbé-Marbois was the son of a former wholesaler. Supported by the Marquis de Castries , whose children he looked after, he entered the diplomatic service and was deployed from 1768 to 1779 in Regensburg, Dresden and at the Bavarian court in Munich as legation secretary and charge d'affaires . In 1777 he was elected a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . When his superior was appointed Secretary of the United States , he had the opportunity to accompany him to Philadelphia. At the beginning of the independence movement he became a friend of George Washington and in 1784 married the daughter of William Moore , a merchant and banker who was also chairman of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania.

Barbé-Marbois was entrusted with the task of organizing the eight French consulates from Boston to Charleston. With the protection of the Marquis de Castries (now Marshal and Minister of the Navy) and Anne César de La Luzerne (brother of César Henri de La Luzerne, the governor of the Iles-sous-le-Vent) he was appointed general superintendent of the colony in 1785 Saint-Domingue provided. The white population of the island rebelled against the measures that Louis XVI. in favor of the dark-skinned population. For example, they fought for the preservation of the exclusive rights of the flour trade, since the goods imported from France were often sold more than twice as expensive as the local products. Therefore, Barbé-Marbois did not have an easy position with the settlers, especially since he arrived there exactly at the time of the uprising on October 26, 1789.

When he returned to France at the age of 44, he also lost the previous protector of Saint-Domingues, the Marquis de La Luzerne, who died in London in 1791. Without his previous superior, he was first sent to Regensburg as an authorized representative in the Office for Foreign Affairs and then to Vienna. When the war broke out, he quit his job for three years, among other things to write down his memories.

In 1795, with the support of his brother-in-law Franz Christoph Kellermann, who had married his sister, he was appointed mayor of Metz. In October of that year he was also elected to the Council of Elders (a chamber of parliament during the board of directors ), where he took an extremely reactionary stance. This brought him under suspicion of being a royalist , although he had given an eulogy for Napoleon's success in Italy . After the coup d'état of the 18th Fructidor V (September 4, 1797) he was arrested and deported to Sinnamary ( French Guiana ). His experiences in the tropical climate benefited him here, so that he survived this time better than some of his companions. His wife remained in France and died in 1834.

In 1799 he came to the Île d'Oléron . After the coup d'état of 18th Brumaire VIII (November 9th 1799), through which Napoleon came to power, he owed his freedom to the new ruler. During his time in the Council of Elders, Barbé-Marbois became friends with Charles-François Lebrun , who remembered him. Due to his international experience, he was appointed " Directeur du Trésor public " (director of the public treasury ) after the death of Bertrand Dufresne in February 1801 under the protection of Lebrun . In 1802 Barbé-Marbois, who was considered conscientious and honest, became senator. In 1803 he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase , which sold large areas of North America to the United States . Napoleon rewarded him for this with 152,000 francs. In 1805 he became an officer of the Legion of Honor and Count. The failure in the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805 led to the release of Barbé-Marbois on January 27, 1806. In 1808 he became President of the Court of Auditors . In 1814 he helped to draw up the certificate of abdication for the emperor. In June 1814, Louis XVIII made him . to Peer of France and confirmed him in his office as President of the Court of Auditors. Stripped of his offices by Napoleon during the Hundred Days , he became Minister of Justice in the government of the Duc de Richelieu in August 1815 . In this office he tried in vain to maintain the confidence of the ultra-royalists and resigned after nine months on May 10, 1816. When Louis Philippe took over the government with the July Monarchy in 1830, Barbé-Marbois paid his respects as President of the Court of Auditors and was confirmed in office. This was the sixth government he served until he left office in April 1834.

Works (selection)

  • Lettres Et Réponses Écrites à Madame La Marquise De Pompadour. depuis MDCCLIII. jusqu'à MDCCLXII. inclusivement. G. Owen & T. Cadell, London 1772 (edition of forged letters from Madame de Pompadour), OCLC 85877962 .
  • Mémoire laissé by M. Barbé de Marbois, intendant á Saint-Dominique. Paris 1790, OCLC 78611747 .
  • Mémoire et observations du sieur Barbé de Marbois, intendant des Isles-sous-le-Vent en 1786, 1787, 1788 et 1789, sur une dénonciation signée par treize de MM. Les députés de Saint-Domingue et faite à l'Assemblée nationale au nom d'un des trois comités de la colonie. Knapen et fils, Paris 1790, OCLC 84774759 .
  • Réflexions sur la colonie de Saint-Domingue, ou, Examen approfondi des causes de sa ruine, et des mesures adoptées pour la rétablir: terminées par l'exposé rapide d'un plan d'organization propre à lui rendre son ancienne splendeur…. Garnery, Paris 1796, OCLC 123428708 , ( books.google.com ).
  • De la Guyane, etc.1822.
  • Histoire de la Louisiane et de la cession de cette colonie par la France aux États-Unis de l'Amérique Septentrionale ;: précédée d'un discours sur la constitution et le gouvernement des États-Unis. Firmin Didot, Paris 1829, OCLC 1687316 .
  • Journal d'un deportée non jugée. 2 volumes. 1834.

literature

  • E. Wilson Lyon: The man who sold Louisiana. The career of Francois Barbe-Marbois. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK 1942, OCLC 407129 .
  • Jean Deviosse: L'homme qui vendit la Louisiane. O. Orban, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-85565-493-9 .

Web links

Commons : François Barbé-Marbois  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Francois, marquis de Barbe-Marbois - French statesman. In: Encyclopædia Britannica .
  2. ↑ Member entry of François Barbé de Marbois at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , accessed on January 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d e BARBE-MARBOIS, François, comte, (1745–1837), 1st président de la Cour des comptes. napoleon.org, accessed May 11, 2016 .
  4. ^ Kellermann, Franz Christoph in the German biography
personal data
SURNAME Barbé-Marbois, François
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barbé-Marbois, François Marquis de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1837
Place of death Paris