Alexis Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest (27 April 1805 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

29 September 1851 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

) was a French diplomat, historian, and Peer of France. He was the eleventh member elected to occupy seat 4 of the Académie française in 1849. Guignard was the son of an ''

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

'' French nobleman Armand Charles Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest (1782–1863) and his Russian wife, Princess Sophie

Galitzine The House of Golitsyn or Galitzine was one of the largest princely of the noble houses in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire. Among them were boyars, warlords, diplomats, generals (the Mikhailovichs), stewards, chamberlains, the richest ...

. His grandfather, François-Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest, was one of the last ministers of

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. Educated in Russia, where his father was the Governor of

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

and Odessa, Guignard returned to France with his father in 1822. During the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 F ...

, he departed from the

Legitimist The Legitimists (french: Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They ...

tradition of his family, particularly that of his uncle Emmanuel Louis Marie de Guignard, vicomte de Saint Priest, to become a warm friend to King

Louis-Philippe of France Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

, whom he served between 1833 and 1838 as an ambassador in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Portugal and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. In the 1840s, Guignard made his mark as a historian and writer. His most important works were the ''Histoire de la royauté considérée dans ses origines jusqu'à la formation des principales monarchies de l'Europe'' (2 vols, 1842), the ''Histoire de la chute des Jésuites'' (1844) and the ''Histoire de la conquête de Naples'' (4 vols, 1847-1848). Guignard died while on a visit to Moscow, on 29 September 1851.

Works

* ''Les ruines françaises - poésies'' (1823) * ''Athenaïs, ou le souvenir d'une femme - comédie'' (1826) * ''Le présent et le passé - épître'' (1828) * ''L'Espagne, fragments de voyage'' (1830) * ''Histoire de la royauté considérée dans ses origines jusqu'à la formation des principales monarchies de l'Europe'' (2 vol., 1842) * ''Histoire de la chute des Jésuites au XVIIIe siècle'' (1844) * ''Histoire de la conquête de Naples par Charles d'Anjou'' 4 vol. (1847) * ''Études diplomatiques et littéraires'' (2 vol., 1850)

Bibliography

* This obituary by Albert de Broglie is available through Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France *

References

1805 births 1851 deaths Diplomats from Saint Petersburg Counts of Saint-Priest Members of the Académie Française Peers of France French male non-fiction writers {{France-historian-stub