Louis Pierre Édouard, Baron Bignon (3 January 1771 inLa Mailleraye-sur-Seine – 6 January 1841) was a French diplomat and historian.^[1]

Louis de Bignon was born atLa Mailleraye-sur-Seine,Seine-Maritime, the son of a dyer. Although he had received a good education, he served throughout the early part of theFrench Revolutionary Wars without rising above the rank of private. In 1797, however, the attention ofTalleyrand, then minister of foreign affairs was called to his exceptional abilities byGeneral Huet, and he was attached to the diplomatic service.^[2]

After serving in the legations in Switzerland and theCisalpine Republic, he was appointed in 1799attaché to the French legation at Berlin, three years later he becamechargé d'affaires. As minister-plenipotentiary atCassel, between the years 1804 and 1806, he took a prominent share in the formation of theconfederation of the Rhine; and after thebattle of Jena he returned toPrussia as the administrator of the public domains and finances. He filled a similar function in Austria after thebattle of Wagram. At the end of 1810, he became a French resident atWarsaw and was for a couple of years supreme in the affairs of thegrand duchy.^[2]

The preparation of a constitution for Poland, on which he was engaged, was, however, interrupted by the events of 1812. Bignon, after a short imprisonment at the hands of the allies, returned to France in time to witness the downfall ofNapoleon. During theHundred Days he once more entered Napoleon's service, and, after theBattle of Waterloo, as minister of foreign affairs under the executive commission, it was he who signed theConvention of St. Cloud of 3 July 1815, by which Paris was handed over to the allies.^[2]

Bignon did not re-enter public life until 1817 when he was elected to the chamber of deputies, in which he sat until 1830, consistent in his opposition to the reactionary policy of successive governments. His great reputation and his diplomatic experience gave a special weight to the attacks which he published on the policy of the continental allies, two of his works attracting special attention,Du congrès de Troppau ou Examen des prétentions des monarchies absolues à l’égard de la monarchie constitutionnelle de Naples (Paris, 1821), andLes Cabinets et les peuples depuis 1815 jusqu’à la fin de 1822 (Paris, 1822).^[2]

TheJuly Revolution, which brought his party into power, only led to a very temporary resumption of office by Bignon. He was for a few weeks minister of foreign affairs in the first government ofLouis Philippe, and again for a few weeks minister of public instruction. But the idea of making him responsible for the foreign policy of France could not be realized owing to the necessity under which Louis Philippe lay of courting the goodwill of the powers, whom Bignon had offended by his outspoken writings.^[2]

Elected deputy in 1831^[3] and member of the chamber of peers in 1839, he withdrew for the most part from politics to devote himself to his great work, theHistoire de France sous Napoleon (10 vols. 1829–1838, then 4 posthumous vols., 1847–1850). This history, while suffering the limitations of all contemporaneous narratives, contains much that does not exist elsewhere, and is one of the best-known sources for the later histories of Napoleon's reign. In his will, Napoleon had granted Bignon 100,000 francs and charged him "to write the history of French diplomacy from 1792 to 1815," although the money was never delivered^[2]

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bignon, Louis Pierre Édouard".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

• 1771 births
• 1841 deaths
• People from Seine-Maritime
• Barons of the First French Empire
• Politicians from Normandy
• Orléanists
• Foreign ministers of France
• Members of the Chamber of Representatives (France)
• Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration
• Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy
• Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy
• Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy
• Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy
• 19th-century French historians
• 18th-century French diplomats
• 19th-century French diplomats
• French male writers
• Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour
• Ambassadors of France to Prussia

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