Antoine de Sartine

Antoine de Sartine
Antoine de Sartine after his retirement. Portrait painted by Joseph Boze in 1787 and kept at the Musée Lambinet in the Palace of Versailles
Born	12 July 1729
Died	7 September 1801 (aged 72)
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Antoine Raymond Jean Gualbert Gabriel de Sartine, comte d'Alby (12 July 1729 – 7 September 1801) was a French statesman who served as Lieutenant General of Police of Paris (1759–1774) during the reign of Louis XV and as Secretary of State for the Navy (1774–1780) under King Louis XVI.

Antoine de Sartine was born in Barcelona in 1729, the son of Antoine Sartine, a French-born financier who arrived in Spain with the troops of King Philip V of Spain and served as intendente (i.e. governor) of Catalonia from 1726 to 1744. His mother was Catherine White, Countess of Alby (the daughter of Ignatius White, Marquess of Albeville, who served as Secretary of State to James II of England). The title Count of Alby was apparently inherited from his mother, a secondary title to that of Marquis of Albeville, granted to Ignatius White, his father Dominick White, and their descendants, by Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1679.

After the death of his mother, Antoine de Sartine was sent to France and put under the guidance of Charles Colabeau, businessman and friend of his father. He studied law in Paris. In 1752 he was granted letters of naturalization. The same year, at the age of 23, he became Councilor (i.e. judge) at the Châtelet of Paris, the city's civil and criminal court. In 1755 he bought the office of Criminal Lieutenant, i.e. head, or chief judge, of the Châtelet's criminal branch. As a result of buying this office, he was ennobled and entered the prestigious aristocracy. Eventually, in 1759, he married Marie-Anne Hardy du Plessis, the granddaughter of Charles Colabeau.