Pierre André de Suffren | |
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Bust of Suffren by Houdon
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Nickname(s) | Jupiter |
Born |
Château de Saint-Cannat |
17 July 1729
Died | 8 December 1788 Paris |
(aged 59)
Buried at | Ashes defiled in 1793 by the Revolutionaries |
Allegiance |
Sovereign Military Order of Malta Kingdom of France |
Service/branch | French Navy |
Years of service | 1743–1784 |
Rank |
Vice-admiral in the French Navy |
Unit | Indian Ocean squadron |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Order of Saint-John of Jérusalem |
Vice-admiral in the French Navy
War of the Austrian Succession:
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren (17 July 1729 – 8 December 1788), French admiral. He was most famous for his campaign in the Indian Ocean, in which he fought a series of intense and evenly matched battles for supremacy against the established British power there, led by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes. Alfred T. Mahan praised Suffren as "a very great man" and evaluated him in terms he usually reserved for praising decisively victorious admirals.
Pierre André de Suffren was born on July 17, 1729 in the Château de Saint-Cannat in the present département of Bouches-du-Rhône. He was the third son of Paul de Suffren (1679–1756), the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence. He grew up at the Hôtel de Suffren, a hôtel particulier located at 40 on the Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence.