Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy | |
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| Born | 7 January 1750 (1750-01-07) Port-sur-Saône, France |
| Died | 2 February 1806 (1806-02-03) (aged 56) Genoa, Italy |
| Rank | Second lieutenant |
Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy (7 January 1750 – 2 February 1806) was a Frenchmilitary engineer and politician, during theFrench Revolution.[1]
Bureau de Pusy was born on 7 January 1750 inPort-sur-Saône in the department ofHaute-Saône.
Deputy ofnobility for the bailliage d'Amont in theEstates General of 1789 that became theNational Constituent Assembly, Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy was three times named president of the National Constituent Assembly:
He contributed actively to the division of France into 83departments,[2] in 1790, and with themetric system.
In 1790, he corresponded withAlexander Hamilton.[3]
On 1 January 1771 he entered the School of Engineering atMézières as a second lieutenant. He was a military engineer at theFort de Joux in 1786, in 1789 he was captain with the Royal corps of Engineers.[4]
After the session of the National Constituent Assembly, he resumed as a captain in the engineering corps, and continued to defend the constitutional principles. On 1 January 1792,Louis XVI gave him theCross of St. Louis.
In 1792, he was a subordinate underGilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, at Metz. He, Lafayette, and some other officers were taken prisoner by the Austrians nearRochefort when de Pusy asked for rights of transit through Austrian territory on behalf of a group of French officers. This was initially granted, as it had been for others fleeing France, but was revoked when the famous Lafayette was recognized.[5] He was imprisoned by the Austrians at the fortress ofOlomouc in 1792. He was released in 1797, under the terms of the treaty ofCampo-Formio (18 October 1797).
He the then went toHamburg. From there he traveled to the United States, where he received a warm welcome as Lafayette companion in misfortune. He was offered vast, land grants on the banks of theDelaware River, but he had not given up on returning to France, and when theconsulate government had, after thecoup of 18 Brumaire, struck off the list ofémigrés members of the National Constituent Assembly who had recognized the sovereignty of the people, he hastened to return.
In 1799, he corresponded withThomas Jefferson.[6]
On 11 Brumaire X (2 November 1801), theFirst Consul appointed him theprefect ofAllier, and then, on 11 Thermidor X (30 July 1802), that of theRhône; it showed a very conciliatory spirit, and showed himself able administrator.
He was made a Commandeurs of theLegion of Honour on 25 Prairial XII (14 June 1804). He was appointed prefect ofGênes (Genoa) on 15 Messidor year XIII (4 July 1805); he had to suppress a riot ofParma, and was able to without shedding a drop of blood. He caught an illness that he died from on this exposition. He died on 2 February 1806 in Genoa.
He was the son of Jean-Baptiste Bureau de Pusy de Port-sur-Saône, conseiller correcteur of theChambre des comptes ofFranche-Comté, and grandson of Pierre-François Choullat. He was the son-in-law ofPierre Poivre. His mother-in-law, Françoise Robin, marriedPierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours. His son, Maurice de Pusy (1799–1864), married Mathilde de Lafayette, daughter ofGeorges de Lafayette and Emilie de Tracy, and granddaughter ofGeneral Lafayette andAntoine Destutt de Tracy.
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