François Baron de Tott (Hungarian:Báró Tóth Ferenc,Slovak:barón František Tóth[1]) (August 17, 1733,Chamigny,France – September 24, 1793,Hungary) was anaristocrat and aFrench military officer ofHungarian origin. Born on August 17, 1733, inChamigny, a village in northernFrance, the descendant of aHungarian nobleman, who had emigrated to theOttoman Empire and then moved on toFrance with the cavalry of CountMiklós Bercsényi, and was later raised to the rank ofbaron.
As a youngster, François joined the regiment his father was serving in, and in 1754 was promoted to the rank ofLieutenant. In 1755 he travelled to Constantinople, thecapital city of the Ottoman Empire, as the secretary of his uncleCharles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, who had been appointed ambassador. His main duty was to learn theTurkish language, to investigate the situation in the Ottoman Empire and to gather information about theCrimean Khanate.
He returned toParis in 1763, and was sent toSwitzerland in 1766 by the French government. In 1767, he was appointedconsul in Crimea in order to learn about the country and incite theCrimean Tatars to rebel against theImperial Russia. François de Tott played a major role during theRusso-Turkish War (1768–1774). Leaving Crimea for a while, he was commissioned by the Ottoman government with the task of defending theDardanelles against the Russian fleet.
Following in the footprints ofClaude Alexandre de Bonneval, known as Humbaracı Ahmed Pasha, François de Tott was involved in thereform efforts for the Ottoman military. He succeeded in having a new foundry built to makehowitzers, and was instrumental in the creation of mobile artillery units. He built fortifications on theBosphorus and started a naval science course that laid the foundation stone for the laternaval school.
He travelled across the Ottoman Empire, visiting coastal cities around theMediterranean Sea, mainlyAlexandria,Aleppo,Smyrna,Salonika andTunis. He also prospected the area for the construction of acanal in Suez.
François Baron de Tott's Memoirs were published in four volumes.[2] He returned to Hungary from Switzerland, where he had moved after theFrench Revolution. He died on September 24, 1793, in Hungary.
Tott was the father of artistSophie de Tott.[3]
