Antoine François Claude, comte Ferrand (; 4 July 175117 January 1825), French

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

and political writer, was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and became a member of the ''

parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

'' of Paris at eighteen.

Life and career

Ferrand left France with the first party of emigrants, and attached himself to the

Prince of Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The f ...

; late he was a member of the council of regency formed by the comte de Provence after the death of

Louis XVI 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- ...

. He lived at

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until 1801, when he returned to France, though he still sought to serve the royalist cause. In 1814 Ferrand was made minister of state and postmaster-general. Ferrand countersigned the act of sequestration of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's property, and introduced a bill for the restoration of the property of the emigrants establishing a distinction, since become famous, between royalist of ''la ligne droite'' and those of ''la ligne courbe''. At the

second Bourbon restoration The Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history during which the House of Bourbon returned to power after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814 and 1815. The second Bourbon Restoration lasted until the July Revolution of 1830, during ...

Ferrand was again for a short time postmaster general. He was also made a peer of France, member of the privy council, grand-officer and secretary of the orders of Saint Michel and the Saint Esprit, and in 1816 member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He continued his active support of ultra-royalist views until his death, which took place in Paris on 17 January 1825. Besides a large number of political pamphlets, Ferrand was the author of: *''Éloge funèbre de Mme Élisabeth, sœur de Louis XVI'' *''L'Esprit de l'histoire, ou Lettres d'un père a son fils sur la manére d'étudier l'histoire'' (4 vols., 1802), which reached several editions, the last number in 1826 having prefixed to it a biographical sketch of the author by his nephew Héricart de Thury *''Éloge historique de Madame Élisabeth de France'' (1814) *''Œuvres dramatiques'' (1817) *''Théorie des révolutions rapprochée des principaux événènements qui en ont été l'origine, le développement ou la suite'' (4 vols., 1817) *''Histoire des trois démembrements de la Pologne, pour faire suite l'Histoire de l'anarchie de Pologne par Russie'' (3 vols., 1820).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrand, Antoine-Francois-Claude 1751 births 1825 deaths French political writers Members of the Académie Française Commanders of the Legion of Honour Peers of France French male non-fiction writers State ministers of France