Antoine Odier
| Antoine Odier | |
|---|---|
Terracotta bust of Odier by Honoré Daumier, Célébrités du Juste Milieu series
|
|
| Chamber of Deputies of the Departments | |
|
In office 24 November 1827 – 16 May 1830 |
|
| Chamber of Deputies | |
|
In office 19 July 1830 – 3 October 1837 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 May 1766 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Died | 19 August 1853 (aged 87) Paris, France |
| Nationality | Swiss / French |
| Occupation | Banker, politician |
Antoine Odier (15 May 1766 – 19 August 1853) was a French banker and politician. He was born in Switzerland but moved to France and was naturalized during the French Revolution (1789–99). He was involved in the Indian cotton trade before founding a banking house in Paris during the Bourbon Restoration. He was politically liberal, supported the July Revolution of 1830 and opposed the seizure of power by Napoleon III in 1851. He favoured protectionist economic policies, and led a lobby group to oppose lowering of tariffs.
Antoine Odier's family, which originated in Dauphiné, was of the ancienne noblesse. An ancestor, also called Antoine Odier, took refuge in Geneva shortly before the end of the 16th century after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Odiers became related by marriage with patrician families in Geneva, and associated with leading merchants. Antoine Odier's father, Jacques-Antoine Odier, appears to have played an important role in Senn, Bidermann et Cie. This company had been established in 1781 with the purpose of manufacturing Indian cotton at Wesserling, Haut-Rhin, and trading in painted canvasses in three export outlets. When the other leaders of this company moved from Geneva in 1782 to France and Belgium, he was given power of attorney for their affairs in Geneva.
Antoine Odier was born on 15 May 1766 in Geneva. He was the son of Jacques-Antoine Odie by his second wife, Marie Cazenove. At a very young age he entered the commercial house of Senn, Bidermann et Cie, Some years before the French Revolution he was given charge of the Ostend outlet, which he transferred to Lorient in 1791 after the suppression of the monopoly of the Compagnie des Indes. Odier became a Frenchman under the law of 1790, which gives this status to the descendants of refugees. He supported the Girondins, and was arrested in 1793. He was not released until the Thermidorian Reaction of 27 July 1794.
After being released Odier moved to Ostend to look after the company's business, then to Hamburg, where he married Susanne Boué, who was like him a descendent of Protestant French refugees. His children were Henriette (b. 1796), Jacques-Antoine (b. 1798), who later became a judge at the court of commerce, a regent of the Bank of France and a member of the Central Council of Reformed Churches, Edouard-Alexandre (b. 1800), who left commerce to become a painter, Alfred-Auguste (b. 1802), Charles-Philippe (b. 1804), Cécile and Jennny, who both died young and Edmond-Louis (b. 1813).
...
Wikipedia