Claude Antoine Gabriel de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul (26 August 1760,

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German : ''Lünstadt'' ; Lorrain: ''Leneinvile'') is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Ve ...

– 1 December 1838) was a French soldier and ''

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

Biography

He was brought up at Chanteloup, under the care of his relative, Etienne François, duc de Choiseul, who was childless. In 1778, he married his cousin, Marie Stephanie de Choiseul, daughter of Etienne's younger brother Jacques Philippe de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville. The latter had only daughters, so Claude became heir to the family titles. When the French Revolution erupted, he was a colonel of

Dragoons Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

, and throughout the following period, he remained a

Legitimist The Legitimists () are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They reject the claim of t ...

. Choiseul-Stainville took part in the attempt of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

to escape from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 20 June 1791, was arrested with the king, and imprisoned (''see

Flight to Varennes The Flight to Varennes (French: fuite de Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant event in the French Revolution in which the French royal family—comprising Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Dauphin Louis Charles, ...

''). Liberated in May 1792, he fled France in October, and fought in the émigré army of

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

against the

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. Captured in 1795, he was confined at

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, escaped, set sail for

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, was wrecked on the French coast, and condemned to death by the decree of the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...

. Nevertheless, he was fortunate enough to escape once more.

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

allowed him to return to France in 1801, but he remained in private life until the fall of the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

in 1815. After the

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he was called to the new

Chambre des Pairs The Chamber of Peers () was the upper house of the French parliament from 1814 to 1848. History The Peerage of France was recreated by the Charter of 1814 at the same time as the Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration, albeit on a ...

(House of Peers) by King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

. During the Revolution of 1830, he was nominated a member of the provisional government. He afterwards received from

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

the post of aide-de-camp to the king and governor of the

Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxe ...

. He died in Paris eight years later.

Marriage

On 6 October 1778 he married Marie Stéphanie de Choiseul (1763-1833) daughter of

Jacques Philippe de Choiseul, Duke of Stainville Jacques Philippe de Choiseul, Duke of Stainville (6 September 1727, Lunéville – 2 June 1789, Strasbourg) was a French Marshal of France, general and nobleman. He became count and then in 1786 duke of Stainville (inheriting it from his elder br ...

and had two children.

Children

# Jacqueline Béatrix Gabrielle ''Stéphanie'' de Choiseul (24 February 1782 - 13 March 1861) married Philippe Gabriel, Duke of Marmier and had children. # Étienne de Choiseul (1786 - died in battle in 1809)

Honours

*1833: Grand cordon of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

.RD of 10.03.1833

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choiseul-Stainville, Claude Antoine Gabriel, duc de 1760 births 1838 deaths People from Lunéville Dukes of Choiseul French Army soldiers French civil servants Royalist insurgents during the French Revolution French counter-revolutionaries Peers created by Louis XVI Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy 19th-century French civil servants Choiseul family