Michel Ange Bernard de Mangourit (21 August 1752,

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

– 17 February 1829) was a French

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, and French ambassador to the United States from 1796 to 1800, during the Quasi-War.

Life

He was the son of Bernard de Mangourit and Marguerite-Angélique Cairgnon de La Touche. He was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. In 1777, he was a criminal judge. He married Louise de La Bidard Morini (died 1807), on August 25, 1777. In 1787, he was a commissioner to the provincial assembly. In 1798, he went to

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 ...

and published a journal, ''Le Haraut de la nation''. He was at the

Fall of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille (french: Prise de la Bastille ) occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. At t ...

. In 1792, he was appointed French Consul General to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, North Carolina, and Georgia. He dealt with

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an refugees, after the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...

. He was instrumental setting up the French Patriotic Society, and the start of

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

. He worked with the arrival of Ambassador

Edmond-Charles Genêt Edmond-Charles Genêt (January 8, 1763July 14, 1834), also known as Citizen Genêt, was the French envoy to the United States appointed by the Girondins during the French Revolution. His actions on arriving in the United States led to a major po ...

. He cultivated relations with governor Moultrie. He went to

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

, where he worked with Claudius Bert de Majan, a veteran of

Pulaski's Legion Pulaski's Legion was a cavalry and infantry regiment raised on March 28, 1778 at Baltimore, Maryland under the command of Polish-born General Casimir Pulaski and Hungarian nobleman Michael Kovats de Fabriczy for their service with the Continent ...

. On 13 March 1794, he was at the destruction of the statue of William Pitt, Sr. in Charleston. He was

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, from November 3, 1794 to November 21, 1794 in the Government of the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

. He was secretary to the Spanish embassy. He was appointed ambassador to the United States in 1796. He worked with General

Jean-Charles Monnier Jean-Charles, comte Monnier (22 March 1758 in Cavaillon – 29 January 1816 in Paris), was a French infantry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Hundred Days. Monnier's name is inscribed {{unreferenced, date=August 2012 An in ...

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

in 1801, and used for secret missions.

Works

*''Défense d'Ancone'', Paris: C. Pougens, an 10 (1802) worldcat.org
*''Voyage en Hanovre, fait dans les Années 1803 et 1804'' (1805)
''Travels in Hanover, during the years 1803 and 1804''
London: R. Phillips, 1806

Notes

References

*
"Citizen Mangourit and the Projected Attack on East Florida in 1794"
Richard K. Murdoch, ''The Journal of Southern History'', Vol. 14, No. 4 (Nov., 1948), pp. 522–540
"A Revolutionary Republican: M. A. B. Mangourit"
R. R. Palmer, ''The William and Mary Quarterly'', Third Series, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct., 1952), pp. 483–496

External links

"Mangourit, Michel Ange Bernard de"
''Papers of Thomas Jefferson''
"Mangourit, Michel Ange Bernard de"
''Papers of James Madison'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mangourit, Michel Ange Bernard 1752 births 1829 deaths French Foreign Ministers Ambassadors of France to the United States 18th-century French diplomats