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Claude-Nicolas Perier (28 May 1742 – 6 February 1801) was assured an important place in French history when he opened his
Château de Vizille The Château de Vizille is a castle in the French town of Vizille near Grenoble. It is one of the most prestigious and important castles of the Dauphiné Region. Traditionally, from the 14th century, the Dauphiné was the homeland of the inherit ...
near
Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
to the famous meeting of the estates of the Province of
Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...
(21 July 1788) heralding the coming 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 is notable also as the founder of the remarkable Perier family "bourgeois dynasty" that rose to economic and political influence and prominence in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
during the 19th century. Claude's descendants became leading
Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
bankers, regents of the Bank of France and owner-directors of
Anzin Anzin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Commune d'Anzin (59014)
INSE ...
, the major coal mining company of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in the Department of Nord. They were mayors of towns, prefects of departments and members of municipal tribunals and chambers of commerce. Many were elected representatives of departments to the Chamber of Deputies in Paris and appointed to France's Chamber of Peers. Most notably, Casimir Pierre Perier (1777–1832), the fourth of Claude's eight sons, became Prime Minister of France in 1831–32 during the Orleanist monarchy of Louis-Philippe I. Casimir's grandson,
Jean Casimir-Perier Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier (; 8 November 1847 – 11 March 1907) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1894 to 1895. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of Auguste Casimir-Perier, the grandson of Casimir Pierr ...
(1847–1907), was elected president of the Third Republic in 1894. Claude Perier was sufficiently wealthy before 1789 to be known as "Perier-Milord" in Grenoble and surroundings, but it was mainly during the decade of revolution 1789–99 that he created the financial underpinning of the Perier dynasty. His eight sons and two daughters would share his legacy of around 5,800,000 francs.


Children of Claude Perier

Jacques-Prosper (1768) Died at birth Elisabeth-Josephine (1770–1850) m. Jacques-Fortunat Savoye de Rollin; Member of the
Tribunat The was one of the four assemblies set up in France by the Constitution of Year VIII (the other three were the Council of State, the and the ). It was set up officially on 1 January 1800 at the same time as the . Its first president was the hi ...
; Deputy (
Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...
,
Deux-Nèthes Deux-Nèthes (, nl, Twee Neten) was a department of the First French Republic and of the First French Empire in present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. It was named after two branches of the river Nete (Grote Nete and Kleine Nete). The southern ...
,
Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
Euphrosine-Marie (1771–1779) Died young Augustin-Charles (1773–1833) m. Henriette de Berkheim.
École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...
; Banker, Manufacturer (
Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
/
Vizille Vizille (; frp, Veselye) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Sights Vizille is the home of the Musée de la Révolution française, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French ...
); Deputy (
Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Peer of France The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...
;
Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
Alexander-Jacques (1774–1846) Manufacturer and mayor,
Montargis Montargis () is a communes of France, commune in the Loiret Departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Loiret, after Orléans and its suburbs. It is near a large forest, ...
; Deputy (
Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.
);
Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
Antoine-Scipion (1776–1821) m. Louise de Dietrich. Perier Bank (
Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
); Regent Bank of France;
Anzin Anzin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Commune d'Anzin (59014)
INSE ...
owner-director;
Chaillot The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de ...
machine shops,
Paris Chamber of Commerce The Paris Chamber of Commerce (french: Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris or ''CCIP'') is a chamber of commerce of the Paris region. It defends the interests of companies of the city of Paris, and provides services to these companies. S ...
Casimir-Pierre (1777–1832) m. Pauline Loyer. Perier Bank (Paris); Regent Bank of France;
Anzin Anzin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Commune d'Anzin (59014)
INSE ...
owner-director;
Chaillot The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de ...
machine shops;
Paris Chamber of Commerce The Paris Chamber of Commerce (french: Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris or ''CCIP'') is a chamber of commerce of the Paris region. It defends the interests of companies of the city of Paris, and provides services to these companies. S ...
; Deputy (
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,
Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
;
Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
Adelaide-Hélène (Marine) 1779–1851) m.
Camille Teisseire Hyacinthe Camille Teisseire (22 September 1764 – 12 September 1842) was a French politician and businessman prominent in the civic and industrial life of Grenoble, the city of his birth, during the first half of the 19th century. From 1820 until ...
(Sub-Prefect,
Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
) Camille-Joseph (1781–1844) m. Pelagie Lecouteulx de Canteleu.
École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...
; Auditor Conseil d'État; Mayor (
Chatou Chatou () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest side of the Seine river about from the city's center. Hi ...
); Prefect (
Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, ...
,
Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
); Deputy (
Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, ...
,
Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the ''Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It had ...
);
Peer of France The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...
;
Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
Alphonse (1782–1866) m. Antoinette-Bonne de Tournadre.
École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...
; Manufacturer, Banker, Tribunal of Commerce (
Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
/
Vizille Vizille (; frp, Veselye) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Sights Vizille is the home of the Musée de la Révolution française, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French ...
); Mayor ( Eybens); Deputy (
Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Conseil d'État,
Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
Amédée-Auguste (1785–1851) Auditor Conseil d'État André-Jean-Joseph (1786–1868) m. Marie-Aglae Clavel de Kergonan. Perier Bank (
Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
); regent Bank of France;
Anzin Anzin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Commune d'Anzin (59014)
INSE ...
owner-director; Deputy (
Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...
);
Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...


Claude Perier at Grenoble and Vizille before 1789


Early life

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, the capital city of the Province of Dauphiny in southeastern France, was where the Periers began their rise to prominence. Claude's father, Jacques Perier (1702–1782), moved there about 1720 from the hamlet of Perier, located near the small town of Mens some 50 kilometers south of Grenoble. He was an aspiring merchant of linen and canvas cloth, and Grenoble at the time was becoming a main commercial center with links to important markets at Arles, Avignon, Lyons, Marseilles and the great annual fair at Beaucaire. He prospered at Grenoble and in 1741 married Marie Dupuy, the daughter of a merchant and one-time municipal consul. Claude Perier, born in 1742, was the first of their seven children. In 1749, Jacques purchased an imposing, multi-story home for the family on the Grande Rue.


Business career

Jacques' business developed as a family affair over the years. His daughter Elisabeth, for example, married Pierre Jordan, a wealthy merchant in Lyon. Commerce with Voiron near Grenoble was added by François Perier-Lagrange, who was a nephew. In 1764, Madeleine Perier, a niece, married a leading merchant in Voiron, François Tivolier. Claude Perier cemented these connections when he came of age by marrying Marie-Charlotte Pascal (1749–1821), the daughter of a leading Voiron merchant. Her dowry in 1767 amounted to 60,000 livres. By that date Claude was already an active member of the family enterprise. In 1764 the business was named "Jacques Perier, Father, Son, Nephew & Company." Claude Perier and Perier-Lagrange were the minor partners. When this association was renewed in 1773, the shares of Jacques and his son, Claude, were 344,266 livres and 72,493 livres, respectively. The trade in linens was a mainstay, but the Periers also acted as credit bankers for area businesses, made land investments, and ventured into manufacturing at Grenoble on their own account (muslins, 1777; hardware, 1779). Most importantly, Claude and his father responded to the increasing demand in France for printed cotton cloths (''toiles peints'') and wallpapers (''papiers peints''). Printed cottons were mainly imported from India and were known as ''indiennes'', but they began to be fabricated in France in 1760 by the famous industrialist
Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf (11 June 1738 – 6 October 1815) was a French naturalized German industrialist. He became famous for founding the royal manufacture of printed cottons of Jouy-en-Josas where the toile de Jouy was manufactured. Ob ...
(1738–1815). His factory for cotton prints at Jouy near Paris, which employed 900 workers by 1774, was named a "royal manufacturer" in 1783 by Louis XVI. Oberkampf invented the first machine for printing wallpaper in 1785. Jacques and Claude Perier began the production of these printed stuffs in 1775–1777 at Vizille, a small village just south of Grenoble.


Purchase of the Château de Vizille

Famously, in a bold entrepreneurial move in 1780, Claude purchased the historic 17th century
Château de Vizille The Château de Vizille is a castle in the French town of Vizille near Grenoble. It is one of the most prestigious and important castles of the Dauphiné Region. Traditionally, from the 14th century, the Dauphiné was the homeland of the inherit ...
with its large rooms and spacious main hall, extensive grounds, numerous out-buildings, streams and water park, as well as nearby lands in Oisans and La Mure. All told, here were ideal conditions for the manufacture of ''indiennes.'' Claude paid Gabriel Louis de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, approximately 1,254,000 livres for the buildings and properties. By 1785, about 100 workers (400 by 1789) were employed at the château producing printed cottons. As became typical of his business style, Claude Perier was involved in other money-making projects even as production of printed cottons at the Vizille factory began to get underway. In fact, the factory was rented out to Swiss experts from Geneva, Jean-Louis Fazy and his son, who ran the operation until January, 1794, at which time other specialists from Geneva and Mulhouse were brought in. Only beginning in 1798 would Claude's eldest son, Augustin-Charles, assume direction of the family enterprise.


Cane sugar investments

Meantime, in 1782, Jacques Perier died leaving a fortune of 600,000 livres to be divided among his three sons, Claude, Jacques-Augustin and Antoine. As the eldest son, Claude's share of the estate was 400,000 livres. These were funds that helped Claude establish a new commercial house at Voiron in 1783. The purpose was to make money importing cane sugar from the Caribbean. The business was called "Perier, Father and Son ,Berlioz, Rey & Company." Berlioz and Joseph Rey, who were business associates at Grenoble, each invested 48,000 livres (4 shares) in the company; Claude also invested 48,000 livres, plus 240,000 as working capital; and one share (12,000 livres) was listed in the name of Augustin Perier, Claude's then 10-year-old son. In 1784 Claude took a half-interest in another sugar import company at Marseilles, "Pierre Chazel & Company." These companies were very profitable until 1793.


Involvement in Hospital General

In the 1770s the directors in charge of the
Hospital General of Grenoble The Hospital General of Grenoble was established in the late 16th century in Grenoble, France as a house of confinement and relief for paupers, beggars, the diseased, etc. Throughout centuries, the Hospital went through moments of success, and mom ...
(a facility meant to incarcerate paupers and beggars) abandoned the hospital. A group of new men became the directors and among them was Claude. In fact, out of all the directors, Claude Perier was the wealthiest. Claude was wealthy and powerful enough to bring along his business associates onto the board of directors for the Hospital as well: Monsieur Dupy, Monsieur Pascal, and his cousin Périer-Lagrange.


Claude Perier from Grenoble/Vizille to Paris, 1789–1801


Involvement in the French Revolution

Claude Perier played an important role in the onset of the French Revolution by supporting resistance in Grenoble (
Assembly of Vizille The Assembly of Vizille or Estates General of Dauphiné was the result of a meeting of various representatives in Grenoble. Its purpose was to discuss the events of The Day of the Tiles, one of the first revolts preceding the French Revolution. ...
) by the Parlement of Dauphiny against the centralizing and fiscal abuses of the monarchy of Louis XVI. His eldest son Augustin would write later: "His travels in England had given him a proper idea of the benefits of a free government. Associating himself readily with all the opinions and all of the hopes of that period, he made hurriedly all the preparations necessary for such a large gathering, and his eagerness, which was not without danger, was worthy of the tokens of public gratitude." Almost 500 persons gathered at the
Château de Vizille The Château de Vizille is a castle in the French town of Vizille near Grenoble. It is one of the most prestigious and important castles of the Dauphiné Region. Traditionally, from the 14th century, the Dauphiné was the homeland of the inherit ...
(21 July 1788) where Claude provided a large banquet for the deputies of the province. Mostly, although also with popular support, it was an assemblage of well-to-do "notables": churchmen, landed nobility, lawyers, notaries, municipal officials, businessmen and doctors. Their famous demand was for the convocation in Paris of an Estates-General wherein the Third Estate would have double-representation and votes would be by head rather than by order. Thus was precipitated a revolutionary movement in France more inclusive, complex and disruptive than anyone could have anticipated. Claude Perier dealt opportunistically with the escalating political postures of France's decade of revolution, 1789-99. He became a valuable member of the new municipal council of Grenoble (Department of Isère), but did not aspire to political leadership or fame. He remained at heart and acted basically as a merchant-banker and inveterate "money-manager" (''manieur d'argent''). He kept abreast of opportunity in matters of investment and enterprise. Early on (1789–90), when it was considered patriotic, he purchased nationalized properties of the church and emigrated nobles, paying in ''
assignats An assignat () was a monetary instrument, an order to pay, used during the time of the French Revolution, and the French Revolutionary Wars. France Assignats were paper money (fiat currency) issued by the Constituent Assembly in France from 1 ...
'', the paper money issued by the National Assembly in Paris. In 1790, he acquired a mechanized cotton-spinning factory at Anilly, near Montargis. In 1791, he invested heavily in a sugar refining company in Marseilles, "Seren & Company." In 1793, when France was at war and Jacobins of the National Convention held sway in Paris (Marie Antoinette was guillotined on October 31, 1793), he organized a company to manufacture rifles for the French Army in Savoy; and with the chemist-geologist Alexandre Giroud, he petitioned Paris for permission to establish the production of commercial soda at the cantons of Vizille and Mure near Grenoble. These initiatives enhanced his reputation as a patriot and good citizen (''bon citoyen'') at an opportune time, for in October 1793 Claude found himself denounced as an enemy of the Revolution by Pierre Chépy, who was president of Grenoble's ''Société Populaire''. He was accused of cupidity, for liquidating his sugar importing company (Perier, Berlioz & Rey) by paying investors in depreciated ''assignats'', and more seriously, of supporting an anti-Jacobin revolt in southern France at Lyons. There was some substance to these charges - Claude Perier's opportunism was not always circumspect. But ultimately, his 'indiscretions' came to be excused, probably most importantly because he had befriended
Camille Teisseire Hyacinthe Camille Teisseire (22 September 1764 – 12 September 1842) was a French politician and businessman prominent in the civic and industrial life of Grenoble, the city of his birth, during the first half of the 19th century. From 1820 until ...
, a very popular Jacobin member of Grenoble's municipal council and the city's chief of police. In 1794, Teisseire married Marine Perier, Claude's youngest daughter.


Claude Perier in Paris

When the
Thermidorian Reaction The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...
cooled down revolutionary fervor in France, Claude shifted his business activity to Paris, where he took up residence (28 November 1794) at No.341-43 rue Saint-Honoré. His eldest son, Augustin, was primed to take over family affairs at Grenoble/Vizille. In Paris, Claude made contacts with leading merchant-manufacturers and money-managers, such as Jean Lecouteulx de Canteleu, William Sabatier, Médard Desprez and Jean Perregaux, and also the noted legal advisor, Pierre-Nicolas Berryer. His first financial coup came in 1795 when he participated in a major loan of 2,418,505 livres to the owners of the Anzin Coal Company in the department of Nord. The loan allowed the company to buy back shares in the enterprise that had been nationalized/confiscated by the government of the Convention. Claude's investment in the loan was 393,425 livres, payable in ''assignats''. In return, he received a large number of the company's coveted shares and (in 1798) a directorship. Anzin would be a major client of the Paris bank founded in 1801 by two of Claude's sons,
Casimir Casimir is classically an English, French and Latin form of the Polish name Kazimierz. Feminine forms are Casimira and Kazimiera. It means "proclaimer (from ''kazać'' to preach) of peace (''mir'')." List of variations *Belarusian: Казі ...
and Scipion. Claude Perier's most notable achievement as a money-manager came in 1799–1800 when he was a founder and became one of the first regents of the Bank of France. Claude had associated in 1796 with a group of twenty or so bankers and businessmen to establish a private bank called the ''Caisse des Comptes Courants''. This bank, with offices in Paris on the Place des Victoires, was capitalized modestly at 5 million francs and specialized in short-term business loans at 6 per cent interest, but the group aspired to grow the capital base and expand into long-term investments and government finance. In brief, these were the financiers who, shortly after the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799) established the government of the
Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...
, met with the new First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, and convinced him to enlarge and transform the ''Caisse des Comptes Courants'' into the Bank of France, to be capitalized at 30 million francs. They agreed to loan the new government 12 million francs to get the bank started. Claude Perier, aided by the lawyer Berryer, drafted the statutes of the bank. He was appointed as one of its first fifteen regents. Subsequently, he was named a member of Napoleon's ''Corps Législatif''. The Bank of France began its operations on February 29, 1800, in the former offices of the ''Caisse des Comptes Courants'' at the Hôtel Massiac, Place des Victoires. Jean-Frédéric Perregaux was named president of its directing Council of Regents.


Late life

Claude Perier died at his mansion in Paris on February 6, 1801. He was 59 years old. He had brought the Periers successfully through the difficult years of the Revolution, leaving an enormous fortune and invaluable social and business connections that would help the family on its way to prominence. For the Perier family, he had "opened the doors to the two powers entrusted to Notables, politics and high finance." Paris now became the major arena of Perier business activity. Claude had positioned his family members well to play significant roles in the industrialization of France during the early 19th century. Addendum regarding the death of Claude Perier: Writers sometimes report Stendhal's assertion that Claude Perier died of the cold in the night because he was too miserly to pay for wood to heat his mansion. However, as Madeleine Bourset warns in her biography of Casimir Perier, the novelist Stendhal exercised a certain personal bitterness toward Claude Perier, claiming even that his sons, Casimir and Scipion, were left to starve and share clothing for lack of money. Claude was in fact very careful about money and did not pamper his sons. They were not raised with a sense of entitlement. But he loved them and saw to it that they had allowances. He ceded them income-providing properties. As for Claude's death, Bourset references the matter-of-fact report in the Duc d'Audiffret-Pasquier's ''Notices historiques sur la famille Perier'' (Paris, 1844), that "he died for having spent an hour in his unheated study wearing a mere dressing-gown."See Bourset, ''Casimir Perier'', p.41 and pp.27-33; Choulet, ''La famille Casimir-Perier'', pp.89 ,95.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perier, Claude People of the French Revolution Businesspeople from Grenoble 1742 births 1801 deaths Regents of the Banque de France