Biographies : 24
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BiographyADDINGTON, Henry
Fact file Born London, 30 May, 1757, died Richmond (Surrey, England) 15 February, 1844 MP for Devizes 1784-1805 Created Viscount Sidmouth in 1805 Speaker in the House of Commons 1789-1801 Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer 1801-04 Lord President of the Council 1805 Lord Privy Seal 1806 Lord President of the Council 1806-7 and […]
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BiographyAZARA, Don José Nicolás de
Don José Nicolás de Azara, Marquis of Nibbiano, doctor of law, politician and diplomat, was born on 5 December 1730 at Barbuñales (Aragón). He was a brilliant student of law and letters at Huesca and later at Salamanca. Civil servant at the Secretariat of State (Secretaría de Estado), he received the Croix de Chevalier of the […]
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BiographyBIGNON, Louis-Pierre-Edouard, baron
(1771-1841), diplomat Bignon was born on 3 February, 1771 in La Mailleraye, a small commune in the Seine-Inférieure department. After serving in the armies of the Revolution, he approached Talleyrand for a diplomatic post, couching his request in verse (!) and giving his opinion on the ideal qualities of a good diplomat. Finding preferment, he […]
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BiographyCARNOT, ‘The Great’, Lazare-Nicolas-Marguerite"Carnot était travailleur, sincère dans tout, sans intrigues, mais facile à tromper. Il montra toujours un grand courage moral. Il a été fidèle, probe, travailleur, et toujours vrai", Napoleon, 1810.
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BiographyCHAMPAGNY, Jean-Baptiste de Nompère de, Duc de Cadore
Born in Roanne on 4 August, 1756, Champagny served in the royal navy between 1774 and 1787 and participated in the American War of Independence. Upon his return, he was made chevalier de Saint-Louis, and served as the député in the Etats généraux on behalf of the Forez nobility. He was arrested during the Terror […]
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BiographyCOBENZL, Ludwig
Fact file Born in Brussels, 21 November 1753, died 22 February, 1809 Austrian minister in Copenhagen, 1774 Austrian minister in Berlin, 1777 Austrian ambassador to St Petersburg, 1779 Negotiated the third treaty of the partition of Poland, 1796 Recalled to Vienna, April 1797 Negotiated the Treaty of Campo-Formio with Bonaparte, 17 October, 1797 Present at […]
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BiographyCUREE, Jean-François
Born in Pézenas, in 1756, the proposer of the famous motion which allowed the Tribunat to start proceedings towards the proclamation of Empire had begun life as a (failed) lawyer before joining the Revolution and getting himself elected a member of the Directoire of the Hérault département (1790). Here his main duty was to oversee […]
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BiographyCZARTORYSKI, Adam Jerzy
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BiographyFALLOUX DU COUDRAY, Frédéric Alfred Pierre, comte de
Frédéric Falloux du Coudray was born in Angers on 7 May, 1811, into a family of merchants enobled by Louis XVIII in 1825 for their monarchical and clerical zeal. After studying at the college in Angers, Frédéric came up to Paris, and it was here that he made his entrance into society via Madame Swetchine, […]
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BiographyFORCADE LA ROQUETTE, Jean Louis Victor Adolphe de, (1820-1874) Statesman
Adolphe de Forcade La Roquette (also written Forcade de la Roquette) was born in Paris on 8 April, 1820. He studied law and earned a doctorate, before becoming a lawyer at the Appeal Court in Paris. He was committed supporter of the coup d'état of 2 December, 1851. As a result of his family relations […]