Louis-Alexandre de Launay, comte d'Antraigues
| Louis-Alexandre de Launay, comte d'Antraigues | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 25 December 1753 Montpellier |
| Died |
22 July 1812 (aged 58) Barnes, London |
| Occupation | Spy, pamphleteer, diplomat, political adventurer |
Emmanuel Henri Louis Alexandre de Launay, comte d'Antraigues (25 December 1753 Montpellier – 22 July 1812 Barnes, London) was a French pamphleteer, diplomat, spy and political adventurer during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
At the age of fourteen, d'Antraigues joined the army. Initially a member of the Garde du Corps at the Palace of Versailles, he eventually became a captain of the Royal Piedmont Cavalry Regiment. Increasingly, though, he became dissatisfied with army life as he became acquainted with several of the leading lights of the Age of Enlightenment. In 1770, he met Jean-Jacques Rousseau and struck up a relationship with him that lasted until Rousseau's death. Later, in 1776, he spent several months at Ferney with Voltaire. Imbued with the democratic ideals of these mentors, d'Antraigues happily resigned his military post in 1778. Soon after, he accompanied his uncle, François-Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest, the French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, to Constantinople. Later in the year, he made an excursion to see Egypt. In 1779, he began his trip home, visiting the cities of Warsaw, Cracow and Vienna.
On his return to Paris, he entered the circles of philosophes and artists, where he became friendly with the future revolutionaries Nicolas Chamfort and Mirabeau.
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