Victor de Riqueti, Marquis de Mirabeau (5 October 1715,

Pertuis Pertuis (; oc, Pertús) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Located south of the Luberon, this town is also near Aix-en-Provence, a famous town. Pertuis has existed since at ...

13 July 1789,

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil. Argenteuil is the sec ...

) was a French

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

of the

Physiocratic Physiocracy (; from the Greek for "government of nature") is an economic theory developed by a group of 18th-century Age of Enlightenment French economists who believed that the wealth of nations derived solely from the value of "land agricultur ...

school. He was the father of Honoré, Comte de Mirabeau and André Boniface Louis Riqueti de Mirabeau. He was, in distinction, often referred to as the elder Mirabeau as he had a younger brother, Jean-Antoine Riqueti de Mirabeau (17171794).

Biography

Mirabeau was brought up very sternly by his father, and in 1728 joined the army. He took keenly to campaigning, but never rose above the rank of captain, owing to his being unable to get leave at court to buy a regiment. In 1737 he came into the family property on his father's death, and spent some pleasant years till 1743 in literary companionship with

Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (; 6 August 1715 – 28 May 1747) was a French writer and moralist. He died at age 31, in broken health, having published the year prior—anonymously—a collection of essays and aphorisms with the en ...

and the poet Lefranc de Pompignan, which might have continued had he not determined to marry not for money, but for landed estates. The lady whose property he fancied was Marie-Geneviève, daughter of a M. de Vassan, a brigadier in the army, and widow of the marquis de Saulveboef, whom he married without previously seeing her on 21 April 1743. In the same year, Mirabeau was made a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis. The event that led Mirabeau to devote himself to political economy was undoubtedly his work on a manuscript of Richard Cantillon's ''Essai sur la nature du commerce en général'', which he had in his possession as early as 1740. He elaborated a commentary of this text that gradually became what became his ''Ami des hommes''. While in garrison at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

Mirabeau had made the acquaintance of

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the princi ...

(1689−1755), and after retiring from the army he wrote his first work, his ''Testament Politique'' (1747), which demanded for the prosperity of France a return of the French to their old position in the Middle Ages. in 1749, his son Honoré Gabriel was born. This work was followed in 1750 by a book on the ''Utilité des états provinciaux'', which was attributed to Montesquieu himself. In 1756 Mirabeau made his first appearance as a political economist by the publication of his ''L'Ami des hommes ou Traité de la population'' ("The friend of Man, or treatise on the population"). This work has been often attributed to the influence, and in part even to the pen, of Quesnay, the founder of the economical school of the physiocrats, but was really written before the marquis had made the acquaintance of the physician of Madame de Pompadour. In 1760 he published his ''Théorie de l'impot'', in which he attacked with all the vehemence of his son the farmers-general of the taxes, who got him imprisoned for eight days at

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...

, and then exiled to his country estate at Bignon near

Nemours Nemours () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Geography Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c. south of Melun, on the Moret–Lyon railway. Nemours – Saint-Pierre ...

. At Bignon the school of the physiocrats was really established, and the marquis in 1765 bought the ''Journal de l'agriculture, du commerce, et des finances'', which became the organ of the school. He was recognized as a leader of political thinkers by Prince Leopold of Tuscany, afterwards emperor, and by Gustav III of Sweden, who in 1772 sent him the Grand Cross of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

. But his marriage had not been happy; he had separated from his wife in 1762, and had, he believed, secured her safely in the provinces by a

lettre de cachet ''Lettres de cachet'' (; ) were letters signed by the king of France, countersigned by one of his ministers, and closed with the royal seal. They contained orders directly from the king, often to enforce arbitrary actions and judgments that ...

, when in 1772 she suddenly appeared in

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 commenced proceedings for a separation. One of his own daughters had encouraged his wife to take this step. He was determined to keep the case quiet, if possible, for the sake of Mme de Pailly, a Swiss lady whom he had loved since 1756. But his wife would not let him rest; her plea was rejected in 1777, but she renewed her suit, and, though Honoré had pleaded his father's case, was successful in 1781. This trial quite broke the health of the marquis, as well as his fortune; he sold his estate at Bignon, and hired a house at Argenteuil, where he lived quietly till his death. The marquis's younger brother, Jean Antoine Riquetti, the

bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

(d. 1794), served with distinction in the

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

, but his brusque manners made success at court impossible. In 1763 he became general of the galleys of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. In 1767 he returned to France and took charge of the château de Mirabeau, helping the marquis in his disastrous lawsuits. Mirabeau was nicknamed "Friend of Man", after his work ''L'Ami des Hommes.''

Works (excerpt)

* L'ami des hommes : ou, Traité de la population (1759) ** Volume 1
online
** Volume 2
online
** Volume 4
online
(1762) ** Volume 5
online
** Volume 7
online
(1762) * ''Théorie de l’impôt'' (1761)
online
* ''Les économiques'' * ''Philosophie rurale (ou, Économie générale et politique de l'agriculture, reduite à l'ordre immuable des loix physiques & morales, qui assurent la prospérité des empires)'' (1763) ** Volume 1 (Volltex
online
** Volume 2 (Volltex
online
** Volume 3: (Volltex
online
* ''La science ou Les droits et les devoirs de l’homme'' (1774)Excerpt
/ref>

Literature

* Georges Weulersse (1874-1950): Les manuscrits économiques de François Quesnay et du Marquis de Mirabeau aux archives nationales, inventaire, extraits et notes (1910)
online
* Thérence Carvalho: « "L’ami des hommes et le prince pasteur". Le rôle du marquis de Mirabeau dans la diffusion et l’application des théories physiocratiques en Toscane », Annales historiques de la Révolution française, nº 394, 4/2018, p. 3-24. * René de La Croix de Castries: Mirabeau ou l’échec d’un destin, Paris, Fayard, 1960. * Louis de Loménie: Les Mirabeau : nouvelles études sur la Société française au xviiie siècle, Paris, Dentu, 1879-1891, 2 vol. * Anthony Mergey: « La question des municipalités dans l’Introduction au Mémoire sur les États provinciaux du marquis de Mirabeau (1758) », Revue de la recherche juridique - Droit prospectif, 2, 4, 2006, p. 2523-2548 (ISSN 0249-8731)) * Henri Ripert: Le Marquis de Mirabeau, ses théories politiques et économiques, Paris, A. Rousseau, 1901. * Albert Soboul: (avant propos d’), Les Mirabeau et leur temps, Société des études, Centre aixois d’études et de recherches sur le xviiie siècle, 1968.

References

* Louis de Loménie ''Les Mirabeau'' (2 vols., 1879). Also Henri Ripert, ''Le Marquis de Mirabeau, ses theories politiques et économiques'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirabeau, Marquis Victor De Riqueti 1715 births 1789 deaths People from Pertuis French economists Physiocrats Marquesses of Mirabeau Grand Crosses of the Order of Vasa Knights of the Order of Saint Louis French Freemasons