Louis Phélypeaux (18 August 1705 – 27 February 1777) Count of Saint-Florentin, Marquis (1725) and Duke of La Vrillière (1770), was a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

Biography

Son of

Louis Phélypeaux, Marquis de La Vrillière Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

, and

Françoise de Mailly-Nesle Françoise () is a French feminine given name (equivalent to the Italian Francesca) and may refer to: * Anne Françoise Elizabeth Lange (1772–1816), French actress * Claudine Françoise Mignot (1624–1711), French adventuress * Françoise Ad ...

(1688–1742), he succeeded his father as

Secretary of State for Protestant Affairs The Secretary of State for Protestant Affairs (french: link=no, Secrétaire d'État de la Religion Prétendue Réformée, or R.P.R., the "So-called Reformed Religion"), was the secretary of state in France during the "Ancien Régime" and Bourbon ...

, with responsibility for

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s. Appointed minister for the

Department of the Maison du Roi The Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi (french: Secrétaire d'État à la Maison du Roi) was the secretary of state in France during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in charge of the Département de la Maison du Roi. The exact com ...

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

in 1749, he held the post until 1775, setting a record for ministerial service. He was named to the

Order of the Holy Spirit , status = Abolished in 1830 after the July RevolutionRecognised as a dynastic order of chivalry by the ICOC , founder = Henry III of France , head_title = Grand Master , head = Disputed:Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou Jean, Count of Pari ...

, where he served as chancellor. After the dismissal of Choiseul in December 1770, he served as

Foreign Minister 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 co ...

until June 1771. His use of

lettres de cachet ''Lettres de cachet'' (; ) were letters signed by the king of France, countersigned by one of his ministers, and closed with the royal seal. They contained orders directly from the king, often to enforce arbitrary actions and judgments that c ...

in the La Chalotais case was controversial and he resigned his ministerial posts in 1775. In 1724 he married Amélie Ernestine de Platen (d. 1752). He had Chalgrin design the Hôtel de Saint-Florentin. This later passed to Talleyrand and to

James Mayer de Rothschild James Mayer de Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild (born Jakob Mayer Rothschild; 15 May 1792 – 15 November 1868) was a German-French banker and the founder of the French branch of the Rothschild family. Early life James de Rothschild was born ...

, and is now part of the

American Embassy, Paris The Embassy of the United States in Paris is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the French Republic. The embassy is the oldest diplomatic mission of the United States. Benjamin Franklin and some of the other Founding Fathers were the ...

References

1705 births 1777 deaths French politicians Members of the French Academy of Sciences {{KingdomofFrance-stub