Théophile Voirol (September 3, 1781,

Tavannes Tavannes is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Jura bernois (administrative district), Jura bernois administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French- ...

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

– September 15, 1853 in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. He was also a member of the Chamber of Peers from 1839 until its abolishment in 1848. He was born into a rich family in

in the Jura region of the

, the son of Justice David Voirol and Marianne Ruedolf. At 12, he was sent to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

to enter an apprenticeship as a merchant, but he disliked that occupation. When the French Revolution erupted in 1789, the French Republic sent its army into the territory of the Bishop of Basel in 1792. The country was annexed to France, and many young men were conscripted to fill the ranks, among them Théophile's older brother. His family was in despair, but 17-year-old Théophile quickly offered himself as a substitute. This was the beginning of a long and brilliant career in the French Army, serving under all the subsequent regimes, including the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of 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 countries, a ...

, the Napoleonic Empire, the Restoration, and the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

. He retired to

in 1848, where he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voirol, Theophile 1781 births 1853 deaths People from the Bernese Jura French generals