Stanislas Jean, chevalier de Boufflers (31 May 1738, Nancy – 18 January 1815) was a French statesman and writer.

Biography

He was born near

Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the prefecture of the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was annexed by France under King Louis XV in 1766 and replaced by a provi ...

, the son of Louis François, marquis de Boufflers. His mother, Marie Catherine de Beauveau Craon, was the mistress of Stanislas Leszczynski, and the boy was brought up at the court of

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History Lu ...

. He spent six months in study for the priesthood at Saint Sulpice,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and during his residence there he circulated a story which became extremely popular, ''Aline, reine de Golconde''. Boufflers did not take priestly vows, as his ambitions were military. He entered the order of the Knights of Malta so that he could follow the career of arms without sacrificing the revenues of a benefice he had received in Lorraine from King Stanislas. After serving in various campaigns he reached the grade of '' maréchal de camp'' in 1784, and in the next year was sent to West Africa as governor of

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. During his time in Senegal, he had a relationship with Anne Pépin, which has become famous. He proved an excellent administrator, and attempted to mitigate the horrors of the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

; and he tried to open up the material resources of the colony so that his departure in 1787 was regarded as a real calamity by both colonists and Senegalese. On his return to France, he presented queen Marie Antoinette with an enslaved boy, Jean Amilcar, who became her foster child.Philippe Huisman, Marguerite Jallut: Marie Antoinette, Stephens, 1971 The ''Mémoires secrets'' of Louis Petit de Bachaumont suggest that Boufflers was sent to Senegal because he was in disgrace at court; but the real reason appears to have been a desire to pay his debts before his marriage with Mme de Sabran, which took place soon after his return to France. Boufflers was admitted to the Académie française in 1788, and subsequently became a member of the states-general. In 1789, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

he took refuge with Prince Henry of Prussia. At the Restoration, he was made joint-librarian of the Bibliothèque Mazarine. His wit and his skill in light verse had won him a great reputation, and he was one of the idols of the Parisian salons. His paradoxical character was described in an epigram attributed to Antoine de Rivarol, "abbé libertin, militaire philosophe, diplomate chansonnier, émigré patriote, républicain courtisan."

Works

Boufflers' ''Œuvres completes'' (complete works) were published under his own supervision in 1803. A selection of his stories in prose and verse was edited by Eugène Asse in 1878; his ''Poèsies'' by

Octave Uzanne Octave Uzanne (14 September 1851 – 31 October 1931) was a 19th-century French bibliophile, writer, publisher, and journalist. He is noted for his literary research on the authors of the 18th century. He published many previously unpublishe ...

in 1886; and the ''Correspondence inédite de la comtesse de Sabran et du chevalier de Boufflers'' (1778-1788), by E de Magnieu and Henri Prat in 1875.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Boufflers, Stanislas de 1738 births 1815 deaths Writers from Nancy, France 18th-century French poets Colonial Governors of French Sénégal Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Knights of Boufflers Members of the Académie Française Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Stanislas French male non-fiction writers 18th-century French male writers Politicians from Nancy, France