biography
| name: |
Talleyrand (-Périgord), Charles Maurice de
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pronunciation:
[talayrã]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1754–1838)
|
| biography:
| French statesman, born in Paris, France. Educated for the Church, he was ordained (1779), appointed Bishop of Autun (1788), elected to the States General, and made president of the Assembly (1790). He lived in exile in England and the USA until after the fall of Robespierre. As foreign minister under the Directory (1797–1807), he helped to consolidate Napoleon's position as consul (1802) and emperor (1804). Alarmed by Napoleon's ambitions, he resigned in 1807, becoming leader of the anti-Napoleonic faction. He became foreign minister under Louis XVIII, representing France with great skill at the Congress of Vienna (1814–15). He then lived largely in retirement, but was Louis Philippe's chief adviser at the July Revolution, and was appointed French ambassador to England (1830–4). |
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