biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1732–1804)
|
| biography:
| Statesman and financier, born in Geneva, SW Switzerland. Initially a banker's clerk, he moved to Paris (1762), founded a bank, and became a wealthy speculator. In 1776–7 he was director of the French Treasury and director-general of finances. He attempted some administrative reforms, but tried to finance French involvement in the War of American Independence by heavy borrowing, while concealing the large state deficit. He was dismissed in 1781, but recalled in 1788 to deal with the impending financial crisis. He summoned the States General, but his proposals for social and constitutional change aroused royal opposition, and he was dismissed. His dismissal helped to provoke the public disorder that ended in the storming of the Bastille, and he was hastily recalled in 1789, but resigned the following year. |
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