Pierre Armand Donon (,

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune north of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official (capital) of the Val-d'Oise '' département'', although in reality the ' ...

- ,

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

) was a French banker. During his heyday around 1860 he was known as the banking partner of

Charles, duc de Morny Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, 1st Duc de Morny (; 15/16 September 181110 March 1865) was a French statesman. Biography Morny was born in Switzerland, and was the extra-marital son of Hortense de Beauharnais (the wife of Louis Bonaparte ...

, a key figure of the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

, with whom he partnered for the early development of

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

Biography

Pierre-Armand Donon was the son of merchant Pierre-Amédée Donon (1792-1880) and his wife Marie-Caroline-Armande, née Morand. He studied in Paris at the

Collège Sainte-Barbe The Collège Sainte-Barbe () is a former college in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. The Collège Sainte-Barbe was founded in 1460 on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève ( Latin Quarter, Paris). It was until its closure in June 1999 the "oldest ...

. By 1845, Donon was a partner at Calon jeune & Cie, a private banking house. On , immediately after the 1851 coup d'état, he co-founded the new bank Donon, Aubry, Gautier & Cie together with partners and Jules Gautier. On , Donon married Henriette-Félicité Staub, the daughter of a prominent Parisian taylor. They had a son, Jacques-Pierre (1854-1913), and two daughters, Thérèse-Jeanne-Marie (1857-1897) and Jeanne-Mathilde-Elisabeth (1860-1919). Donon served as

consul-general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from 1853 to 1880, when his son succeeded him in that capacity. By 1868 he had been awarded the honor of Grand Officer of the Ottoman

Order of the Medjidie Order of the Medjidie (, August 29, 1852 – 1922) was a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the order was awarded in five classes, with the Firs ...

, elevated to Grand Cross by 1881. In 1859, Donon was instrumental in the creation of the Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), which was supported by the politically influential Duke of Morny, as a competitor to the

Pereire brothers Émile Pereire (3 December 1800, Bordeaux - 5 January 1875, Paris) and his brother Isaac Pereire (25 November 1806, Bordeaux – 12 July 1880, Gretz-Armainvilliers) were major figures in the development of France's finance and infrastructure duri ...

Crédit Mobilier The Crédit Mobilier (; officially the Société Générale du Crédit Mobilier , ) was a French banking company created in 1852 by the Pereire brothers, and one of the world’s most significant and influential financial institutions in the mid ...

on the model of successful British depository banks such as the London and Westminster Bank. In 1863, feeling a loss of direct control over the CIC, he created the

Société des Dépôts et Comptes Courants The Société des Dépôts et Comptes Courants (, SDCC) was a French bank, created in 1863 and liquidated in 1891. Its business was subsequently taken over by the recently restructured Comptoir d'Escompte de Paris. Overview In 1862–1863, Ar ...

(SDCC) and became the new institution's chairman. As the SDCC and CIC were effectively competitors, Donon stopped attending board meetings of the CIC in August 1866 and formally left the board in 1871. In 1859, together with Morny's physician

Joseph Francis Olliffe Sir Joseph Francis Olliffe (1807 – 14 March 1869) was an Irish physician. Early life Sir Joseph Olliffe was born in 1807 in Cork, Ireland. His father was Joseph Olliffe (c. 1776 – 1830), a merchant of Cork. His mother was Elizabeth McCarthy ...

and Morny himself, Donon bought 177 hectares of seafront land west of the

Touques river The Touques () is a small coastal river in Pays d'Auge in Normandy, France. The Touques is officially navigable up to the Pont des Belges, from its estuary. Its source is in the Perche hills, south of Gacé. The river runs northwards, and flows ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, which formed the basis for the later development of

. From 1868, Donon was mayor of the village of Lonrai in the

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Bank of France The Bank of France ( ) is the national central bank for France within the Eurosystem. It was the French central bank between 1800 and 1998, issuing the French franc. It does not translate its name to English, and thus calls itself ''Banque de F ...

provided emergency liquidity and eventually liquidated the bank on . The SDCC was subsequently absorbed in 1892 by the

Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris The Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris (; CNEP), from 1854 to 1889 Comptoir d'escompte de Paris (CEP), was a major French bank active from 1848 to 1966. The CEP was created by decree on 10 March 1848 by the French Provisional Government, in ...

. In 1892, Donon relinquished his role of mayor of Lonrai and sold his mansion there. On , Donon was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment, which he served at the

La Santé Prison La Santé Prison (named after its location on the Rue de la Santé) ( or ) is a prison operated by the French Prison Service of the Ministry of Justice (France), Ministry of Justice located in the east of the Montparnasse district of the 14th arr ...

, and a fine of three thousand francs. On , he was stripped of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

that had been awarded to him on .

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donon, Armand 1818 births French bankers 1902 deaths

Biography

See also

Notes