Père-Lachaise - Division 41 - Craufurd 02

Quintin Craufurd (22 September 1743 – 23 November 1819) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

author born at

Kilwinning Kilwinning (, sco, Kilwinnin; gd, Cill D’Fhinnein) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Pa ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Life

In early life he went to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, where he entered the service of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. Returning to Europe before the age of forty with a handsome fortune, he settled in

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 ...

, where he gave himself to the cultivation of literature and art, and formed a good library and collection of paintings, coins and other objects of antiquarian interest. Craufurd was on intimate terms with the French court, especially with

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

, and was, alongside his lover

Eleanore Sullivan Anna Eleanore Sullivan, previously Eleanora Franchi (12 June 1750 in Lucca – 14 September 1833) was an Italian courtesan, mostly known in history for her relationship with Axel von Fersen, the alleged lover of the French queen Marie Antoinette. ...

, one of those who arranged the

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 ...

. He escaped to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, but in 1792 he returned to Paris in the hope of rescuing the royal prisoners. He lived among the French émigrés until the

peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...

made it possible to return to Paris. Through Talleyrand's influence he was able to remain in Paris after the war was renewed, and he died there on 23 November 1819.

Selected bibliography

He wrote among other works:
''The History, Religion, Learning and Manners of the Hindus''
(1790)
2nd edition
*''Secret History of the King of France and his Escape from Paris'' (first published in 1885)
''Researches concerning the Laws, Theology, Learning and Commerce of Ancient and Modern India''
(1817)
''History of the Bastille''
(1790)
''On Pericles and the Arts in Greece''
(1815) *''Essay on Swift and his Influence on the British Government'' (1808) *''Notice sur Marie Antoinette'' (1809) *''Mémoires de Mme du Hausset'' (1808).
''Essais sur la littérature française''
(1815) Auction of his collection: *''Catalogue de tableaux, gouaches, miniatures ... et autres articles de haute curiosité, composant le cabinet de feu M. Quintin Craufurd, dont la vente aura lieu le 20 novembre

820 __NOTOC__ Year 820 ( DCCCXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate *Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun appointed Isa ibn Yazid al-Juludi as Abbasid gove ...

et jours suivans, etc''. (Par MM. Delaroche et Chles. Paillet.) Paris 1820. ---- 1743 births 1819 deaths British non-fiction writers People from Kilwinning Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery British male writers Male non-fiction writers British expatriates in France {{UK-nonfiction-writer-stub