Pablo Jerónimo Grimaldi y Pallavicini, 1st Duke of Grimaldi, GE (6 July 1710 – 1 October 1789) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. After extensive experience as an Ambassador, Grimaldi served as Chief Minister of Spain between 1763 and 1778 helping to rebuild Spanish power following its defeat during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. For his services as Secretary of State, he was granted the title of Duke of Grimaldi by King

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

. Grimaldi was of Genoese descent, and a member of the

House of Grimaldi The House of Grimaldi is the Dynasty, reigning house of the Monaco, Principality of Monaco. The house was founded in 1160 by Grimaldo Canella in Genoa and became the ruling house of Monaco when François Grimaldi, Francesco Grimaldi captured Mo ...

Early life

Pablo Jeronimo was born as the younger son of Francesco Maria Grimaldi (d. 1754),

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

and his wife, Maria Giovanna Pallavicini (1679-1741). His brother Raniero Grimaldi also served as the Senator of the Republic of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Biography

In the service of Spanish Kings

Ferdinand VI Ferdinand VI (; 23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759), called the Learned (''el Prudente'') and the Just (''el Justo''), was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death in 1759. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the ...

and

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, Grimaldi was minister plenipotentiary in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, and ambassador to the States-General of the United Provinces. Charles III named him ambassador to

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 ...

, where together with French Secretary of State

Étienne François, duc de Choiseul Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Artists and entertainers * ...

he negotiated the third

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

between France and Spain. This provoked the entry of Spain into the war with Britain. He also signed the Peace of Paris in 1763. In September 1763, after the dismissal of

Ricardo Wall Richard Wall y Devereux (5 November 1694 – 26 December 1777) was a Spanish military officer, statesman and diplomat who served as Chief Minister of Spain from 1754 to 1763. Early life Wall belonged to a family settled in Kilmallock, one of ...

he was named Spanish Minister of State, a position he held until 1776. He was a reformer, a member of the group known as ''golillas''. Together with the

Leopoldo de Gregorio, Marquis of Esquilache Leopoldo de Gregorio, 1st Marquess of Esquilache, OWE (Messina, December 23, 1699 – Venice, September 15, 1785), known in Spanish as ''Marqués de Esquilache'' and in Italian as ''Marchese di Squilliace'', was a Sicilian-born Spanish statesm ...

he helped suppress the 1766 riots provoked by Esquilache's reforms. (His house was sacked during the rioting.) He was a member of the ''junta'' that voted for the suppression of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s in 1767. In 1776, after various conflicts, particularly the defeat of the 1775 expedition to

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, he was removed from office and made ambassador in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He was made

grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

and decorated with the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

, 1765. He was also granted the title of ''Duque de Grimaldi'', 8 April 1777, by King

, a.k.a. former King Charles VII of Naples, for his services to the Spanish Crown. The successor in his government positions was also a "golilla", namely,

José Moñino, 1st Count of Floridablanca José Moñino y Redondo, 1st Count of Floridablanca (October 21, 1728 – December 30, 1808) was a Spanish statesman. He was the reformist chief minister of King Charles III of Spain, and also served briefly under Charles IV. He was arguably S ...

, (

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, Spain, 21 October 1728 -

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain, 30 December 1808).

References

External links

''Vida de Carlos III'', by Fernán-Núñez
in the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.

2009-10-31)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimaldi, Jeronimo 1710 births 1789 deaths Dukes of Spain Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Knights of Malta Spanish diplomats Government ministers of Spain Grandees of Spain Politicians from Genoa Ambassadors of Spain to Great Britain Ambassadors of Spain to France People from the Republic of Genoa Immigrants to Spain

Early life

Biography

See also

References

External links