Jean-Pierre, Count Of Montalivet

Jean-Pierre Bachasson, Seigneur and 1st Comte de Montalivet (Neunkirch, now part of Sarreguemines, Moselle, 5 July 1766 – Château de Lagrange,Castle of Montalivet-Lagrange
on Napoleon & Empire website Cher, 22 January 1823) was a French statesman and Peer of France. He was the father of Camille Bachasson, 3rd Count of Montalivet, Minister of the Interior under Louis-Philippe.

Life

Early life and Revolution

A nobleman born in Sarreguemines the son of Charles Victor Bachasson, Seigneur de Montalivet, Maréchal de camp, Knight of the Order of Saint Louis and Councilor Secretary of the King in the Chancellery of Corsica, etc., and second wife Marthe de Saint-Germain, ''Noble Femme'', he was counsellor to the Grenoble ''parlement'' from 1785 to 1790, and, while in Valence, he became friends with Napoleon Bonaparte, who was a young officer at the time. In 1788, during the bloody riots known as the '' Journée des Tuiles'', he took the side of the revolt and was banished to his ''château'' in Montmeyran.

Although supportive of the French Revolution, Bachasson enlisted in the Army of Italy in order to escape the Reign of Terror. After his return to France he was elected Mayor of Valence in 1795, and was commissioner for the '' département'' of Drôme under the French Directory.

Consulate and Empire

After his 18 Brumaire coup, Napoleon called Bachasson to serve as '' préfet'' of the Manche and then Seine-et-Oise under the Consulate. With the start of the French Empire, Bachasson joined the ''Conseil d'État'', became director of the Legion of Honor, and, from 1806, head of the '' Corps des Ponts et Chaussées''.

He became Minister of the Interior in 1809, during the period when France was at the peak of its European territorial expansion. As Minister, Bachasson helped develop the infrastructure within the Empire by, for example, authorising the construction of new bridges and ports. He also oversaw large-scale urban works in Paris, the building of such monuments as the Arc de Triomphe and the Palais Brongniar, as well as the expansion of sewage works and the digging of public fountains.

Restoration, later life, and legacy

In 1814, after the Six Days' Campaign, Bachasson accompanied Empress Marie Louise all the way to Blois, and then retired to his property in Montmeyran. He returned to public life during the Hundred Days, and became Intendant General General of the Crown and a Peer. With the start of the Bourbon Restoration, he was denied peerage until 1819. He died in his Castle of Lagrange-Montalivet in Saint-Bouize.

''Montalivet Street'' in Paris, a ''Montalivet Square'' in Valence, ''Montalivet Avenue'' in Caen, ''Comte de Montalivet Street'' in Sarreguemines and the '' Montalivet Islands'' in Western Australia, are all named after him.

Family

He married Louise Françoise Adélaïde de Saint-Germain ( Versailles, Yvelines, 13 January 1769 – Thauvenay, 10 March 1850), who was said to be a daughter of Louis XV of France - with whom she shared the same striking resemblance in the strongly marked Bourbon traits also found in other of his illegitimate offspring - by Catherine Eléonore Bernard (1740–1769), and had issue:
* Charles Bachasson de Montalivet (1798–1807)
* Simon Pierre Joseph Bachasson, 2e Comte de Montalivet (1 March 1799 - Girona, 12 October 1823), unmarried and without issue
* Marthe Camille Bachasson, 3rd Comte de Montalivet (1801–1880)
* Pierre Bachasson de Montalivet (Saint-Lô, 27 November 1832), unmarried and without issue

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montalivet, Jean-Pierre De
1766 births
1823 deaths
People from Sarreguemines
Counts of Montalivet
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
People of the French Revolution
French interior ministers
People of the First French Empire
Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days
Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration