Antoine Claude Nicolas Valdec de Lessart (25 January 1741, Château de Mongenan, Portets, near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

– 9 September 1792,

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

) was a French politician. He was the illegitimate son of the Baron de Gasq, Président of the Parlement de

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne ( , ; ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the Catholic archdiocese of Bordeaux. Name The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transform ...

Life

Before 1790

A director of the Compagnie des Indes, he became Maître des requêtes in 1767 then in October 1788 one of the three commissaries charged with discussing and examining everything on the financial administration. Claude Antoine Valdec de Lessart was one of the intimates of

Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan banker and statesman who served as List of Finance Ministers of France, finance minister for Louis XVI of France, Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innov ...

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

made him one of the commissaries charged with reconciling the three orders of the Estates General.

Revolution

On 4 December 1790, he was summoned to the Contrôle général des finances, then on 25 January 1791 moved to the

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

, all the while holding onto the finance portfolio. At the Financial ministry,

Étienne Clavière Étienne Clavière (; 29 January 17358 December 1793) was a Genevan-born French financier and politician of the French Revolution. He was the French Minister of Finance between 24 March and 12 June 1792, and again between 10 August 1792 and ...

and the

Girondin The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...

s preyed on his management of the post, whilst at the interior ministry

Camille Desmoulins Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist, politician and a prominent figure of the French Revolution. He is best known for playing an instrumental role in the events that led to the Stormin ...

Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron (; 17 August 1754 – 15 July 1802) was a French politician, journalist, representative to the National Assembly, and a representative on mission during the French Revolution. Background The son of Elie-Catherine ...

and

Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (, , ; born Jean-Paul Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the ''sans-culottes ...

reproached his sympathies for the refractory clergy. During the Varennes affair, he revealed himself as a docile executor of the orders of the Legislative Assembly. He was then made interim Naval Minister in September 1791 and interim Minister of Foreign Affairs that October when the main concern was the bellicose activities of the emigres based in Treves and Mayence. The threat to go to war with their hosts, the Rheinish Electors, sufficed to have the émigré armies ordered to disband. However, that December the emperor of Austria announced Austrian troops would support the Rheinish electors and war with Austria became a real possibility. That possibility was welcomed by the Assembly and de Lessart could do little to prevent it (He did send Talleyrand to London in January 1792 to seek English neutrality if not support). The Assembly resented de Lessart's cautious - some said treasonable - approach and on 1 March voted to have him impeached. Unpopular and unable to arrest the march to war desired by

Jacques Pierre Brissot Jacques Pierre Brissot (, 15 January 1754 – 31 October 1793), also known as Brissot de Warville, was a French journalist, abolitionist, and revolutionary leading the political faction, faction of Girondins (initially called Brissotins) at the ...

, he was indicted under Girondin pressure on 10 March 1792. He was transferred to the High Court at

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...

of Paris was decided upon.

Claude Fournier-L'Héritier Claude Fournier L'Héritier (21 December 1745 – 1825) was a French personality of the Revolution, nicknamed ''l'Américain'' ("the American"). Life Early activities He was born at Auzon (Haute-Loire), the son of a poor weaver, and went to the ...

was charged with bringing them as far as Paris, but instead stopped at Versailles and massacred 44 of the 52 prisoners entrusted to him, including

Louis Hercule Timoléon de Cossé-Brissac Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

, Claude Antoine de Valdec de Lessart and Charles-Xavier Franqueville d'Abancourt.

External links

Notice biographique de Nicolas de Valdec de Lessart
extract from ''Les ministres des Finances de la Révolution française au Second Empire'', Comité pour l'histoire économique et financière de la France, 2007, 376 p, () {{DEFAULTSORT:Lessart 1741 births 1792 deaths People from Gironde Ministers of marine and the colonies People who died in prison custody during the French Revolution Burials at the Cemetery of Saint-Louis, Versailles French interior ministers Finance ministers of France