Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Richelieu KOHS, KOSG |
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2nd Prime Minister of France | |
In office 20 February 1820 – 14 December 1821 |
|
Monarch | Louis XVIII |
Preceded by | Comte Decazes |
Succeeded by | Comte de Villèle |
In office 26 September 1815 – 29 December 1818 |
|
Monarch | Louis XVIII |
Preceded by | Charles Maurice de Talleyrand |
Succeeded by | Marquis Dessolles |
Member of the Académie française | |
In office 23 March 1816 – 17 May 1822 |
|
Preceded by | Antoine-Vincent Arnault |
Succeeded by | Bon-Joseph Dacier |
Governor of Odessa | |
In office 8 October 1803 – 27 August 1814 |
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Monarch | Alexander I |
Preceded by | Paul Pustoshkin |
Succeeded by | Thomas A. Coble |
Personal details | |
Born |
Armand Emmanuel Sophie-Septimanie Vignerot du Plessis 25 September 1766 Paris, France |
Died | 17 May 1822 Paris, France |
(aged 55)
Political party | Doctrinaires |
Spouse(s) | Rosalie de Rochechouart (m. 1781; d. 1822) |
Profession | Diplomat, military officer |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance |
Kingdom of France Russian Empire |
Service/branch |
French Royal Army Army of Condé Imperial Russian Army |
Years of service | 1785–1814 |
Rank |
Captain Major general |
Unit |
Dragoon 3rd Hussar Regiment |
Battles/wars |
French Revolutionary Wars Russo-Turkish War Coalition Wars |
Armand-Emmanuel Sophie Septimanie de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duke of Richelieu and Fronsac (25 September 1766 – 17 May 1822), was a prominent French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration. He was known by the courtesy title of Count of Chinon until 1788, then Duke of Fronsac until 1791, when he succeeded his father as Duke of Richelieu.
As a royalist, during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, he served as a ranking officer in the Russian Imperial Army, achieving the grade of major general. Following the Bourbon Restoration, he returned to his homeland and was twice Prime Minister of France.
He was born in Paris, the son of Antoine de Vignerot du Plessis, 4th Duke of Richelieu, and of his wife, Adélaïde de Hautefort. His father was the son and heir of King Louis XV of France's favourite, Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, 3rd Duke of Richelieu (1696–1788).
Known by the courtesy title of comte de Chinon during the lifetime of his distinguished grandfather, he was married on 4 May 1782 at the age of fifteen to Alexandrine Rosalie Sabine de Rochechouart-Faudoas (1768 – 9 December 1830), a hunchbacked child of fourteen. Immediately after the wedding, Chinon embarked upon the Grand Tour with his tutor, visiting the cities of Geneva, Florence and Vienna. Because of Rosalie's deformity, it is unlikely the marriage was ever consummated. During their long marriage, which was often punctuated with periods of extended separation, the two were never more than formal with each other.