Antoine Balthazar Joachim, baron d'André (2 July 1759 – 16 July 1825) was a French royalist politician.

Biography

Early life

He was born in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

on 2 July 1759.

Career

At the onset of 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

he was a ''conseiller'' at the

Parliament of Aix-en-Provence The Parliament of Aix-en-Provence was the provincial ''parlement'' of Provence from 1501 to 1790. It was headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, which served as the ''de facto'' capital of Provence. History The region of Provence became a member of the ...

. Elected by the Second Estate as a representative of the sénéchaussée of

to the

Estates-General of 1789 The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom o ...

(also elected from Aix was the

comte de Mirabeau ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * A count in French, from Latin ''comes'' * A ...

, who though he was a nobleman was elected by the

Third Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social stratification, social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into ...

). Following the example of Philippe, duc d'Orléans, he joined the Third Estate which became the National Constituent Assembly. He was elected president of the National Assembly three times (1–16 August 1790; 22 December 1790 – 4 January 1791; 10–27 May 1791) and he was the second most prolific speaker, addressing the Assembly on 497 occasions (only

Armand-Gaston Camus Armand-Gaston Camus (2 April 17402 November 1804), French revolutionist, was a successful lawyer and advocate before the French Revolution. He was the son of Pierre Camus, a lawyer in the Parlement of Paris. Camus is considered the founder of ...

spoke more frequently). He was one of the prominent partisans pressing for a constitutional monarchy, and supported the faction known as the

Monarchiens The Friends of the Monarchist Constitution (french: Amis de la Constitution Monarchique), commonly known as the Monarchist Club (french: Club monarchique) or the Monarchiens, were one of the revolutionary factions in the earliest stages of the Fr ...

. The attempted royal

flight to Varennes The royal Flight to Varennes (french: Fuite à Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant event in the French Revolution in which King Louis XVI of France, Queen Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family unsuccessfull ...

(20–21 June 1791) caused a crisis of faith in the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

, and inspired him to vote with the majority to suppress the royal executive power. Along with

Adrien Duport Adrien Duport (6 February 17596 July 1798) was a French politician, and lawyer. He was an influential advocate in the parlement, and was prominent in opposition to the ministers Calonne and Loménie de Brienne. Life Adrien Jean Françoise Dupo ...

and

François Denis Tronchet François Denis Tronchet (23 March 1726 – 10 March 1806) was a French jurist, best remembered for having defended Louis XVI of France at his trial (with Malesherbes and Deseze) and for having contributed to the writing of the French civil cod ...

he was selected to conduct the interview with

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

in the aftermath. After the close of session for the National Assembly he remained in Paris, where he founded a large grocery business (''épicerie''), for which the journalists of the Left dubbed him "l'Épicier". Accused of hoarding and suspected to plotting with the royalist émigrés, he emigrated himself, at first to Great Britain and then to Switzerland, where he placed himself in the service of the comte de Provence. In this capacity he became an active royalist; through him the British spymaster William Wickham directed the funds intended to support counter-revolutionary propaganda. Under the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...

he returned to France in February 1797 to take in hand the electoral campaign of the royalist party, with some success, though he was not elected to the ''

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the e ...

''. After the

Coup of 18 fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup wa ...

(4 September 1797) he escaped arrest by fleeing once more to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and remained abroad for a decade, faithful to the

comte de Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

, now proclaimed "Louis XVIII" by the royalists. After Napoleon's victory at Wagram (July 1809), D'André permitted his son Antoine Joseph Maurice d'André to serve in the Imperial army, while he occupied himself with establishing a

model farm A demonstration farm, or model farm, is a farm which is used primarily to research or demonstrate various agricultural techniques, with any economic gains being an added bonus. Demonstration farms are often owned and operated by educational instit ...

near

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. With the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * ...

he followed Louis XVIII to France, and was pardoned for his defection, 1809–1814, and appointed general director of police, and superindendant of the

Maison du Roi The Maison du Roi (, "King's Household") was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration. Organisation ...

Death

He died at Aix-en-Provence on 16 July 1825.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Antoine Balthazar Joachim d' 1759 births 1825 deaths People from Aix-en-Provence 18th-century French nobility 19th-century French nobility Monarchiens Members of the National Constituent Assembly (France) Members of the Council of Five Hundred Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Prefects of police of Paris