Jean-François Aimé, Count of Dejean (1749–1824), was a French army officer and minister of state in the service of the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted u ...

and 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 ...

Biography

Jean-François was born in 1749 in

Castelnaudary Castelnaudary (; ) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is located in the former province of the Lauragais and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world capital, and of which it ...

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

. He entered the Royal French army as a second lieutenant in the engineering school of Mézières in 1766. At the time of the French Revolution, Dejean embraced the principles of moderate reform. His talents in military administration gained him rapid advancement through the ranks of the army engineers. He replaced

Pierre de Ruel, marquis de Beurnonville Pierre de Ruel, marquis de Beurnonville (10 May 1752 – 23 April 1821) was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars and later a marshal of France and Deputy Grand Master of Grand Orient de France.Dictionnaire de la Franc-maçonnerie ...

as commander of the ''

Army of the North The Army of the North (), contemporaneously called Army of Peru (), was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...

'' on 16 September 1796 and his tenure lasted until 24 September 1797 when he handed the assignment back to Beurnonville. Dejean performed a variety of important missions as a consulate, including to Genoa, where he lived for nearly two years with the title of minister extraordinary. He was recalled to Paris in 1802 to take the portfolio of Minister of War Administration (a position he held until 1809). Shortly before his retirement from the ministry, he was promoted to the rank of chief inspector-general of fortifications. The Emperor

Napoleon 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 ...

soon afterwards made him a senator and a ''Trésorier de la légion-d'honneur'' (treasurer of the Legion of Honour). After the abdication of Napoleon in 1814, Dejean joined the Provisional Government, and performed the difficult task of extraordinary commissioner to Comte d'Artois (the future Charles X). He was also appointed, a Peer of France, Governor of L'Ecole Polytechnique and Chairman of the Committee for the Liquidation of Arrears. But in 1815, having accepted service under Napoleon Bonaparte during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

, he was removed from all public offices on return of the Bourbon regime. In 1819 Dejean returned to the ''

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 ...

'' (French House of Lords), where he consistently supported the liberal opposition. He died on 12 May 1824.

Notes

References

* Attribution: * 1749 births 1824 deaths French generals Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Peace commissioners of the French Provisional Government of 1815 Peers of France People from Castelnaudary Politicians of the First French Empire Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe {{France-mil-bio-stub