Joseph Palamede de Forbin-Janson

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Epitaph of the general in the Heiliggeistkirche Heidelberg

Joseph Palamede de Forbin-Janson (born July 1, 1726 in Paris , France , † March 24, 1809 in Heidelberg ) was a French general who lived in German exile from 1790.

Life

He came from the old French aristocratic family of the Counts of Forbin, his parents were the officer and later Maréchal de camp Michel de Forbin-Janson and his wife Françoise Christine nee. de Nicolay.

In 1746 the nobleman married Madeleine Louise Aubéry de Vatan in Paris. Like his father, Joseph Palamede de Forbin-Janson embarked on a career as a French officer. He became governor and fortress commander of Antibes , an office that his father held before him. In army service he was promoted to brigadier des armes du roi of the cavalry on April 16, 1767, and to maréchal de camp on March 1, 1780 .

After the French Revolution broke out, Joseph Palamede de Forbin-Janson emigrated from his home country in 1790 and went to the nearby Electoral Palatinate . There, and also with Elector Karl Theodor , there had been family and friendly relationships for a long time, through his confidante or chief steward Karl Anton Hyacinth von Gallean (1737–1778), whose mother was a born Countess de Forbin-Janson. In addition, the Obersthofmeister's daughter Gabrielle von Gallean (1763-1834) married Forbin-Janson's son Michel (1746-1832) in 1782, thus establishing another relationship.

Joseph Palamede de Forbin-Janson settled in Heidelberg and did not return home even under Emperor Napoleon . He did not want to do this before the Bourbons had again come to power there. In Heidelberg he experienced the change of government from the Electoral Palatinate of Bavaria to the Grand Duchy of Baden . The exiled general died in 1809 and was buried in the then still Catholic choir of the Heiliggeist Church , where a marble epitaph was dedicated to him. There it is said that General de Forbin-Janson was very devout and charitable; u. a. He is characterized here as "the eye of the blind, the leg of the lame, a father to the poor" . According to the inscription on the epitaph, Forbin-Janson was a knight of the French Order of Louis . The order cross also adorns the coat of arms on the tombstone.

The godfather of his grandson Charles-Theodore Palamede de Forbin Janson (1783–1849) was the Palatinate Elector Karl-Theodor personally. The boy later became chamberlain to Emperor Napoleon. The other grandson Charles-Auguste-Marie-Joseph de Forbin-Janson (1785–1844) worked as Bishop of Nancy and missionary in North America. He founded the “Work of the Holy Childhood” , today the Pontifical Children's Mission, and died in the name of holiness.

Coat of arms of the de Forbin-Janson family

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jean Baptiste Pierre Jullien de Courcelles: Dictionnaire historique et biographique des généraux français , Paris, 1822, volume 6, page 98; Scan from the source
  2. ^ Genealogical website about the couple Michel de Forbin Janson and Gabrielle de Gallean
  3. ^ Genealogical page on Charles-Theodore Palamede de Forbin Janson
  4. ^ Biographical website on Bishop Auguste-Marie-Joseph de Forbin-Janson
personal data
SURNAME Forbin-Janson, Joseph Palamede de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French general in exile in Germany
DATE OF BIRTH July 1, 1726
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1809
Place of death Heidelberg