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Louis-Auguste-Augustin d'Affry

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Portrait of d'Affry wearing the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Holy Spirit, after Alexander Roslin

Louis-Auguste-Augustin d'Affry (Versailles, 28 February 1713 – Saint-Barthélemy, 10 June 1793) was a Swiss military officer and diplomat under the French kings Louis XV and Louis XVI.

Biography

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Louis-Auguste-Augustin d'Affry was born in Versailles, France to Major François d'Affry (1667-1734) and Marie-Madeleine de Diesbach Steinbrugg, both from Fribourg, Switzerland.[1] His paternal ancestors had served as mercenaries in French service nearly uninterruptedly since 1538.[2] d'Affry joined the Swiss Guards as a cadet in 1725, and in 1734 fought at the Battle of Guastalla where his father was killed.[1][3]

He was promoted to brigadier in 1744, to field marshal in 1748, and to lieutenant-general in 1758.[1] In 1767, d'Affry was made colonel of the Swiss Guards.[1] He served as Louis XV's representative to the Dutch Republic from 1755 to 1762, and was the unofficial ambassador of the Old Swiss Confederacy to the French court.[1][4] From 1771 until 1792, d'Affry was in charge of all Swiss troops in French service.[1]

At the start of the French Revolution, d'Affry's failing health prevented him from acting during the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789.[1] After Louis XVI's flight to Varennes in June 1791, he was appointed military governor of Paris and took an oath of allegiance to the National Constituent Assembly.[1] Refusing to compromise his troops in counter-revolutionary activity, d'Affry endeavored to maintain the Swiss military presence in France while keeping it neutral from political affairs.[1]

Due to age and weak health, d'Affry was again unable to command the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries Palace during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792,[5] although he signed the order summoning the regiment from its barracks the previous night. He was imprisoned from that day until 2 September.[1] After his release, he briefly resumed his former duties in order to handle the dismissal of the Swiss mercenary regiments,[a] following their dissolution by the new French Republican government.[1] Although cheered in the streets, d'Affry appears to have been conscious of the changeability of public sentiment at the time. He accordingly left Paris on 20 October 1792 and died at his château in Saint-Barthélemy, Switzerland on 10 June 1793.[1]

Louis-Auguste-Augustin d'Affry was married to Marie-Elisabeth d'Alt, the daughter of a Swiss colonel in Sardinian service.[1] Their son was the Swiss politician Louis d'Affry [fr], the first Landammann of Switzerland after the Act of Mediation.[6] A freemason, d'Affry was a member of the Parisian lodge Société Olympique after 1786.[1] He was also an honorary member of the royal academies of painting, sculpture and architecture.[1]

Honors

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Swiss Guards were massacred at the Tuileries but eleven regiments of Swiss line infantry had remained in existence.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Alain-Jacques Czouz-Tornare: Louis-Auguste-Augustin d'Affry in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  2. ^ Monique von Wistinghausen: d'Affry in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  3. ^ Rose, Hugh James (2010). A New General Biographical Dictionary, Volume 1. BiblioBazaar. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-142-11216-5.
  4. ^ Poussou, Jean-Pierre; Anne Mézin; Yves Perret-Gentil (2004). L'influence française en Russie au XVIIIe siècle. Presses Paris Sorbonne. p. 66. ISBN 978-2-7204-0392-7.
  5. ^ McCormack, John. One Million Mercenaries: Swiss Soldiers in the Armies of the World. p. 268. ISBN 0-85052-312-5.
  6. ^ Andrey, Georges (2009). Schweizer Geschichte für Dummies. Wiley-VCH. p. 256. ISBN 978-3-527-70440-8.

Bibliography

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  • Andrey, Georges (2003). Louis d'Affry, 1743-1810, premier Landamman de la Suisse : la Confédération suisse à l'heure napoléonienne. Genève (Suisse): Slatkine. ISBN 9782832101155.
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