Guignard de Saint-Priest, François-Emanuel de (1735-1821)

Guignard de Saint-Priest, François-Emanuel de

STATESMAN (FRANCE)

BORN 12 Mar 1735, Grenoble, Isère - DIED 26 Dec 1821, Lyon: Saint-Priest
GRAVE LOCATION Lyon: Cimetière de Loyasse, 43, rue du Cardinal-Gerlier (9)

Saint-Priest entered the army when he was 15. When he left it in 1763 he was a colonel. He served for four years in Portugal before he became ambassador in the Ottoman Empire. There he married Wilhelmina von Ludolf (1752-1807), the daughter of the Ambassador of Naples. In 1785 he left Turkey and in 1788 he joined Necker's cabinet. After the storming of the Bastille he also joined Neckar's second cabinet. In august, 1790 Louix XVI made him Ministre l'Intérieur.

After he was accused of hindering the execution of the decretes of the National Assembly he resigned and joined his brother in Stockholm. There he and his wife were thought to be spies and in 1795 he joined the future Louis XVIII in Verona and became a member of the émigré government. In later years he followed Louis to Blankenburg and Mittau. After a disagreement with Louis' policies he went to Switzerland in 1808. Napoleon didn't allow him to return to France and after he was forced to leave Switzerland he travelled through Europe. In 1815 he wasn't admitted to the new government, but he was made a pair of France and he retired to his country estates. His memoirs describe his diplomatic career and his life in exile.

Images

The grave of François-Emanuel de Guignard de Saint-Priest at the Loyasse cimetière, Lyon.
Picture by Androom (03 Dec 2007)