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Joseph Foullon de Doue

Joseph Foullon de Doue (25 June 1715-22 July 1789) was a Controller-General of Finances of the Kingdom of France under King Louis XVI of France. He was murdered alongside his son-in-law Louis Benigne Francois Bertier de Sauvigny during the French Revolution.

Biography[]

Joseph Foullon de Doue was born in Saumur, France on 25 June 1715, and he served as Intendant-General of the Armies under King Louis XV of France during the Seven Years' War; in this post, he was the king's eyes and ears in the French Army. In 1789, he was chosen by the reactionary party as a substitute for Finance Minister Jacques Necker after Necker's dismissal, and he was unpopular among the wealthy for his severity and among the poor for his exploitation of the masses. He was a staunch conservative, and the Orleanists hated him for his right-wing views. After the Storming of the Bastille, Foullon de Doue attempted to flee Paris, but he was captured by the mob and taken to the Place de Greve on the right bank of the Seine River, where they thrice attempted to lynch him from a lamp post. Foullon de Doue broke the rope each time, so the crowd beheaded him instead. They would show his head to his son-in-law Louis Benigne Francois Bertier de Sauvigny before Sauvigny was executed as well.

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