Gaspard de Gueidan (de Valabre) (1688–1767) was a French aristocrat and lawyer. He served as the

Président à mortier The ''président à mortier'' () was one of the most important legal posts of the French ''Ancien Régime''. The ''présidents'' were principal magistrates of the highest juridical institutions, the ''parlements'', which were the appeal courts. ...

of 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 ...

Biography

Early life

Gaspard de Gueidan was born on 10 April 1688 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. ...

.Monique Cubells, ''La Provence des lumières : Les parlementaires d'Aix au XVIIIe siècle'', Paris: Maloine, 1984, p. 42Christian Wieland (ed.), Jörn Leonhard (ed.), ''What Makes the Nobility Noble?: Comparative Perspectives from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century'', Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011 p. 28

/ref> He grew up at the Hôtel de Gueydan, located at 22 on the

Cours Mirabeau The Cours Mirabeau is a wide thoroughfare in Aix-en-Provence, France. Overview 440 meters long and 42 meters wide, the Cours Mirabeau is one of the most popular and lively places in the town. It is lined with many cafés, one of the most famous ...

. He was baptised as a Roman Catholic in the

Église de la Madeleine , other name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = French , image = Madeleine Paris.jpg , landscape = , imagesize = , caption = , imagelink ...

in Aix. His family were bourgeois from

Reillanne Reillanne (; oc, Ralhana) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. It is due north of Toulon and west of Nice. History The earliest record of a city on this site is the Roman town of Alaunia in 909. That c ...

. His grandfather Gaspard Gueidan (1616-1697), married to Catherine Brémond, purchased a position at the

Court of Finances Under the French monarchy, the Courts of Accounts (in French ''Chambres des comptes'') were sovereign courts specialising in financial affairs. The Court of Accounts in Paris was the oldest and the forerunner of today's French Court of Audit. ...

, thus becoming a member of the French aristocracy.Michel Vovelle, ''Les folies d'Aix ou la fin d'un monde'', Le temps des cerises, 2003, p. 182-183 His father was Pierre de Gueidan, a wealthy lawyer, and his mother, Madeleine de Trets.Myra Nan Rosenfeld, ''Largillierre and the eighteenth-century portrait'', Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1982, p. 29

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Career

He entered the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence, where he served as Advocate General, protecting the concerns of the elite.Katharine Baetjer, ''Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-Century Europe'', Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011, p. 1

/ref> By the 1730s, his speeches were printed. In 1740, he became

of the Parliament of Aix. He was a member of the

Académie de Marseille The Académie de Marseille, officially the Académie des sciences, lettres et arts de Marseille, is a French learned society based in Marseille. It was founded in 1726 and includes those in the city involved in the arts, letters, and sciences. H ...

and dreamt of being elected to the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. His portrait was painted by

Hyacinthe Rigaud Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra (; 18 July 1659 – 29 December 1743), known in French as Hyacinthe Rigaud (), was a Catalan-French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility. Biography Rigaud ...

(1659–1743) in 1738.Joanna Woodall, ''Portraiture: Facing the Subject'', Manchester University Press, 1997, p. 6

/ref>Michael Levey, ''Painting and Sculpture in France, 1700-1789'', Yale University Press, 1993, p.

/ref> The painting is based on the character of "Celadon" in ''

L'Astrée ''L'Astrée'' is a pastoral novel by Honoré d'Urfé, published between 1607 and 1627. Possibly the single most influential work of 17th-century French literature, ''L'Astrée'' has been called the "novel of novels", partly for its immense leng ...

'' by

Honoré d'Urfé Honoré d'Urfé, marquis de Valromey, comte de Châteauneuf (11 February 15681 June 1625) was a French novelist and miscellaneous writer. Life He was born at Marseille, the grandson of Claude d'Urfé, and was educated at the Collège de T ...

(1568-1635). It is now displayed in the

Musée Granet The Musée Granet is a museum in the quartier Mazarin, Aix-en-Provence, France devoted to painting, sculpture and archeology. In 2011, the museum received 177,598 visitors. History The museum, adjacent to the Church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte, first o ...

in Aix.

Personal life

He married Angélique de Simiane, daughter of Joseph marquis de Simiane and Marguerite de Valbelle, on 24 March 1724. They had six children: *Joseph Gaspard de Gueidan (1725-1784). His second wife was Henriette de Félix d'Ollières. They had a son: **Alphonse de Gueidan (1783-1853). He married Joséphine Sibillot. After Joseph's death, Henriette married Jules Lemercier de Maisoncelle de Richemond (1803-1882). After his death, she donated the

Château de Valabre A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

to the city of

Gardanne Gardanne (; oc, Gardana) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Gardannais. Geography It is close to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille and on the rail link connecting the two cities. It ...

. *Anne Adélaïde de Gueidan (1725-1786). She married Pierre Louis de Demandolx La Palud on 24 January 1745. She was also the mistress of

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

(1725-1798) by some accounts. *Catherine de Gueidan (1728-1759). She married Claude de Prats on 4 August 1749. *Pierre Claude Secret de Gueidan (1733-unknown). He became a Knight of Malta. *Étienne Alexandre de Gueidan (1735-unknown). He also became a Knight of Malta. *Timoléon de Gueidan (1744-unknown). He also became a Knight of Malta. He died on 23 February 1767 in Aix-en-Provence.

Bibliography

*Gaspard de Gueidan, ''Discours prononcés au Parlement de Provence par un de messieurs les avocats généraux'' (Volumes 1 and 2, chez Quillau, 1739). *Gaspard de Gueidan, ''Discours prononcés au Parlement de Provence par un de messieurs les avocats généraux'' (Volume 2, 1741). *Gaspard de Gueidan, ''Discours prononcés au parlement de Provence'' (Volume 3, de Nully, 1753). *Gaspard de Gueidan, ''Discours prononcés au parlement de Provence'' (Volume 5, 1762).Google Books
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Gueidan, Gaspard 1688 births 1767 deaths People from Aix-en-Provence Provencal nobility 18th-century French lawyers