Jacques Necker
Birth: 1732
Death: 1804
Occupation: Banker; Finance Minister
Necker was a famous Swiss banker who played a controversial role in attempts to shore up the French monarchy's finances in the 1770s and 1780s. His dismissal from the post of Finance Minister stoked public anger in the build-up to the Revolutionary events of 14 July 1789. He was reinstated by the king only two days after the storming of the Bastille in a bid to shore up royal authority and popularity. The duchess ascribes a central political role to him well into the Revolutionary period.
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Appears in these Letters:
1789
9 May: The Opening of the Estates General
The Estates General was the national representative body called by Louis XVI to solve the state’s financial problems. It was set up with ornate...
22 July: Revolutionary Paris in July 1789
The duchess reflects on events in the Revolution so far and the rising power of Paris's new municipal government. She castigates a...
1790
15 April: The Riddle of Louis XVI
Although a staunch royalist, the duchess, like many nobles, feared that the king might be tempted to enter an alliance with influential members of the...
[Source: Wikipedia]