Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas
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The Count of Maurepas KOHS |
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Portrait of Maurepas by Louis-Michel van Loo (1730)
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| First Minister of State | |
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In office 14 May 1776 – 21 November 1781 |
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| Monarch | Louis XVI |
| Preceded by | Jacques Turgot |
| Succeeded by | The Count of Vergennes |
| Secretary of State of the Navy | |
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In office 16 August 1723 – 23 April 1749 |
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| Monarch | Louis XV |
| Preceded by | The Count of Morville |
| Succeeded by | The Count of Jouy |
| Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi | |
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In office 30 March 1718 – 20 April 1749 |
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| Monarch | Louis XV |
| Preceded by | Marquis of La Vrillière |
| Succeeded by | The Count of Saint-Florentin |
| Personal details | |
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Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux 9 July 1701 Versailles, Île-de-France, France |
| Died | 21 November 1781 (aged 80) Versailles, Île-de-France, France |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne Phélypeaux (m. 1728; his d. 1781) |
| Profession | Statesman |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas (9 July 1701 – 21 November 1781) was a French statesman and Count of Maurepas.
He was born at Versailles, of a family of administrative nobility, the son of Jérôme Phélypeaux, secretary of state for the marine and the royal household. Under the guidance of his father, his grandfather and his cousin Louis Phélypeaux, marquis de La Vrillière, Jean-Frederic was trained from childhood to be secretary of state to the king of France. Jean-Frederic had right en survivance to the position of secretary of state, under Philippe II, as his father Jerome had purchased the office with the right of inheritance.
In 1718 at the age of 17, Jean became the minister of the royal household and Comte de Maurepas under the guardianship of his cousin La Vrillière. Shortly after he married the daughter of his cousin, Marie-Jeanne. Five years later on the 16th of August he began his duties as ministre de la marine to Louis XV administering the navy, colonies and seaborne trade. In 1738 he was promoted to the council of state, and in time aided the king, alongside several other ministers in making significant political decisions. Jean continued his administrative career after the death of his guardian, and was ministre de la marine until April 23, 1749, when he was removed in a coup.
Skilled in military and naval strategy, Maurepas enabled the French navy to regain previously lost prestige and France was once again recognized as a maritime power. One way that he improved the French reputation was by focusing on the defense of France's sprawling empire in the New World, especially in the 1730s and 1740s. His defense plans were aided by information on British naval manoeuvres, lists of what ships were coming to North America and detailed memoirs of ship construction. Jean-Frederic obtained this information through maintaining an intelligence service that was considered one of the most efficient in Europe. This was only made possible due to the drastic funding increases he managed to obtain for the Troupes de la Marine. The typical budget appropriated to the marine from the mid-1720s to mid-1730s was 9 million livres; in 1739, however, Jean-Frederic managed to obtain a budget of 19.2 million livres. In the following years he acquired budgets of 20 million livres in 1740, 26 million in 1741 and 27 million in 1742. Over his career as administrator he held the positions of chamberlain of the royal household, minister of the marine, and director of the secret service, fulfilling his duties with efficiency and precision.
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