Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy (7 January 1750, at
Port-sur-Saône
Port-sur-Saône () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
It was probably the Roman ''Portus Abucini''.
Population
Twin towns
Port-sur-Saône is twinned with:
* Brest, Belarus ...
in the department of
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.[Genoa, Italy
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...]
) was a French
military engineer
Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...
and politician, during 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 ...
.
Political career
Deputy
Deputy or depute may refer to:
* Steward (office)
* Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy"
* Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including:
** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...
of
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
for the bailliage d'Amont in 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 ...
that became the
National Constituent Assembly, Jean-Xavier Bureau de Pusy was three times named president of the National Constituent Assembly:
* from 2 to 24 February 1790;
* from 11 to 24 September 1790;
* from 24 May to 5 June 1791.
He contributed actively to the division of France into 83
departments, in 1790, and with the
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the Decimal, decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in French Revolution, France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the d ...
.
In 1790, he corresponded with
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
.
Military career
On 1 January 1771 he entered the School of Engineering at
Mézières as a second lieutenant. He was a military engineer at the
Fort de Joux
The Fort de Joux or Château de Joux is a castle, later transformed into a fort, located in La Cluse-et-Mijoux in the Doubs department in the Jura mountains of France. It commands the mountain pass ''Cluse de Pontarlier''.
History
The Chà ...
in 1786, in 1789 he was captain with the Royal corps of Engineers.
After the session of the National Constituent Assembly, he resumed as a captain in the engineering corps, and continued to defend the constitutional principles. On 1 January 1792,
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 ...
gave him the
Cross of St. Louis.
In 1792, he was a subordinate under
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemasonry, freemason and military officer who fought in the Ameri ...
, at Metz. He, Lafayette, and some other officers were taken prisoner by the Austrians near
Rochefort
Rochefort () may refer to:
Places France
* Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department
** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard
* Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department
* Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
when de Pusy asked for rights of transit through Austrian territory on behalf of a group of French officers. This was initially granted, as it had been for others fleeing France, but was revoked when the famous Lafayette was recognized. He was imprisoned by the Austrians at the fortress of
Olmütz
Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019).
Located on th ...
in 1792. He was released in 1797, under the terms of the treaty of
Campo-Formio (18 October 1797).
He the then went to
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
. From there he traveled to the United States, where he received a warm welcome as Lafayette companion in misfortune. He was offered vast, land grants on the banks of the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
, but he had not given up on returning to France, and when the
consulate government had, after the
coup of 18 Brumaire
The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless ''coup d'état'' overt ...
, struck off the list of ''émigrés'' members of the National Constituent Assembly who had recognized the sovereignty of the people, he hastened to return.
In 1799, he corresponded with
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
.
''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'', Index, Volume 31: 1 February 1799 to 31 May 1800
/ref>
Consulate and empire
On 11 Brumaire X (2 November 1801), the First Consul
The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Con ...
appointed him the prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
of Allier
Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...
, and then, on 11 Thermidor X (30 July 1802), that of the Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
; it showed a very conciliatory spirit, and showed himself able administrator.
He was made a Commandeurs of the Legion of Honour
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, ...
on 25 Prairial XII (14 June 1804). He was appointed prefect of Gênes
Gênes was a department of the French Consulate and of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when the Ligurian Republic (formerly the Republic of Genoa) was annexed directly t ...
(Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
) on 15 Messidor year XIII (4 July 1805); he had to suppress a riot of Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
, and was able to without shedding a drop of blood. He caught an illness that he died from on this exposition.
Family
He was the son of Jean-Baptiste Bureau de Pusy de Port-sur-Saône, conseiller correcteur of the Chambre des comptes
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. ...
of Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
, and grandson of Pierre-François Choullat. He was the son-in-law of Pierre Poivre
Pierre Poivre (23 August 1719 – 6 January 1786) was an 18th-century horticulturist and botanist. He was born in Lyon, France.
He was a missionary to East Asia, intendant of French colonial islands in the Indian Ocean, and wearer of the cordon ...
. His mother-in-law, Françoise Robin, married Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours ( or ; ; 14 December 1739 – 7 August 1817) was a French-American writer, economist, publisher and government official. During the French Revolution, he, his two sons and their families immigrated to the Uni ...
. His son, Maurice de Pusy (1799–1864), married Mathilde de Lafayette, daughter of Georges de Lafayette and Emilie de Tracy, and granddaughter of General Lafayette and Antoine Destutt de Tracy
Antoine Louis Claude Destutt, comte de Tracy (; 20 July 1754 – 9 March 1836) was a French Enlightenment aristocrat and philosopher who coined the term "ideology".
Biography
The son of a distinguished soldier, Claude Destutt, he was born in ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bureau De Pusy, Jean-Xavier
1750 births
1806 deaths
People from Haute-Saône
French nobility
Members of the National Constituent Assembly (France)
Politicians from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
French engineers
French prisoners of war in the 18th century
French Army officers
Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur
Prefects of Allier
Prefects of Rhône (department)
Knights of the Order of Saint Louis
Prefects of France