Charles-François Lebrun | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byRobert Lefèvre, 1807 | |
| Third Consul of France | |
| In office 12 December 1799 – 18 May 1804 Serving withNapoléon Bonaparte andJean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès | |
| Preceded by | Roger Ducos (as Provisional Consul) |
| Succeeded by | Republic abolished |
| Member of theCouncil of Five Hundred | |
| In office 22 August 1795 – 9 November 1799 | |
| Member of the National Constituent Assembly | |
| In office 9 July 1789 – 30 September 1791 | |
| Member of the Estates General for the Third Estate | |
| In office 6 May 1789 – 6 June 1789 | |
| Constituency | Dourdan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 March 1739 Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin,Normandy,Kingdom of France |
| Died | 16 June 1824 (1824-06-17) (aged 85) Sainte-Mesme,Yvelines,Kingdom of France |
| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery |
| Spouse | Anne Delagoutte |
| Children | Anne-Charles Lebrun, 2nd duc de Plaisance Alexander Lebrun Sophie-Eugenie Lebrun Auguste-Charles Lebrun Dorothée Lebrun |
Charles-François Lebrun, 1stduc de Plaisance (French:[ʃaʁlfʁɑ̃swaləbʁœ̃], 19 March 1739 – 16 June 1824) was a French statesman who served asThird Consul of the French Republic and was later createdArch-Treasurer byNapoleon I.
Born inSaint-Sauveur-Lendelin (Manche), after studies ofphilosophy at theCollège de Navarre, he started his career during theAncien Régime, making his first appearance as alawyer inParis in 1762. He filled the posts ofcenseur du Roi (1766) and thenInspector General of theDomains of the Crown (1768).[1]
During the early 1760s, Lebrun became a disciple ofMontesquieu and an admirer of theBritish Constitution, travelling throughSouthern Netherlands, theDutch Republic, and finally to theKingdom of Great Britain (where he witnessed the debates in theLondon Parliament).[citation needed]
He became one ofChancellorRené Nicolas de Maupéou's chief advisers, taking part in his struggle against theparlements and sharing his downfall in 1774. Lebrun then devoted himself to literature, translatingTorquato Tasso'sJerusalem Delivered (1774) and theIliad (1776). He retreated from public life to his property inGrillon, attempting to live a life as envisaged by thephilosopheJean-Jacques Rousseau. During the cabinet ofJacques Necker, he was consulted on several occasions, but never appointed to high office.[1]
At the outbreak of theFrench Revolution in 1789, he foresaw its importance in his volumeLa voix du Citoyen, published the same year, and predicted the course which events would take. In theEstates-General and (after he took theTennis Court Oath) in theNational Constituent Assembly, where he sat as deputy for theThird Estate in thebailiwick ofDourdan, he professedLiberalism and proposed various financial laws, without affiliating to any particular faction.[1] A partisan ofconstitutional monarchy even afterKingLouis XVI'sflight to Varennes (June 1791), he became the target for the suspicions of theJacobin Club.[citation needed]
After the voting of the1791 Constitution, he was ineligible for theLegislative Assembly (like all former members of the Constituent Assembly), and became instead president of the directory ofSeine-et-Oisedépartement.[1]
Lebrun retired from this position on 7 August 1792, and again retired to Dourdan. Three days later, thestorming of the Tuileries Palace signalled the move towards the establishment of theFrench Republic by the creation of theNational Convention. Lebrun further aroused the indignation of republicans when he accepted to represent Dourdan in theelectoral college of Seine-et-Oise which nominated deputies to the Convention.[citation needed]
A suspect during theReign of Terror, he was twice arrested: the first time in September 1793, liberated after the intervention ofJoseph Augustin Crassous (representative on mission to Seine-et-Oise); the second time in June 1794 (paradoxically, on orders from the same Crassous) – threatened with theguillotine, he was saved by a relative of his who stole his record of prosecution, thus causing a delay long enough for Lebrun to be saved by theThermidorian Reaction.[citation needed]
In 1795, Lebrun was elected as a deputy to theFrench Directory'sCouncil of Ancients and,[1] although a supporter of theHouse of Bourbon, he voted against prosecutions of Jacobins, and showed himself in favour of national reconciliation.[citation needed]
Lebrun was madeThird Consul followingNapoleon Bonaparte's18 Brumaire coup in the Year VIII (9–10 November 1799;seeFrench Consulate). In this capacity, he took an active part in Napoleon's reorganization of the national finances and in the administration of France'sdépartements. He was made a member of theAcadémie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1803, and in 1804, he was appointedArch-Treasurer of theFrench Empire. From 1805 to 1806, he wasgovernor-general ofLiguria, during which time he completed its annexation by France.[1]
He opposed Napoleon's restoration of thenoblesse and, in 1808, only reluctantly accepted the title ofduc de Plaisance (Duke ofPiacenza),[1] a rare, nominal, but hereditaryduché grand-fief, extinguished in 1926.[citation needed] From 1811 to 1813, he served as governor-general of a part of theannexedNetherlands, reorganizing itsdépartements –Zuyderzée andBouches-de-la-Meuse.[1] He was assisted by Antoine de Celles andGoswin de Stassart.[citation needed]
Although to a certain extent opposed to theautocracy of the Emperor, he was not in favor of his deposition, although he accepted thefait accompli of theBourbon Restoration in April 1814.Louis XVIII made him aPeer of France, but during the subsequentHundred Days, he accepted from Napoleon the post ofgrand maître de l'Université. As a consequence, he was suspended from the House of Peers when the Bourbons returned again in 1815, but was recalled in 1819. He died five years later inSainte-Mesme (then in Seine-et-Oise, now inYvelines).[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lebrun, Charles François".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 352. Endnotes:| French nobility | ||
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| Preceded by Title Created | Duc de Plaisance 1808–1824 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Third Consul of the French Republic 1799 - 1804 Served alongside: Napoleon Bonaparte (First Consul) Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès (Second Consul) | Succeeded by Office abolished |
French Consulate (10 November 1799 – 18 May 1804) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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* denotes titular Duke |
