Louis-Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne

Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne (July 9, 1769 – February 7, 1834) was a French diplomat, born in Sens.

Bourrienne is famous for his Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, a work based on years of intimate friendship and professional association. They met at the Military Academy at Brienne in Champagne when eight years old. Napoleon recalled the famous snowball battles that he masterminded: “Unfortunately the pleasure did not last long, for we put stones in the snowballs, so that many boys were injured, among them my friend Bourrienne, and the game was forbidden”. Typically, Napoleon recalled that when they graduated in 1787 at age 15 he led in all subjects; Bourrienne recalled that Napoleon led in mathematics, while he was first in all else.

Bonaparte continued his military studies and entered the army. Bourrienne prepared for a diplomatic career, studying in Vienna and then at Leipzig. Appointed Secretary of the Legation at Stuttgart he remained there during the first years of the French Revolution, flouting orders to return. He did not come home until the spring of 1792, so his name was on the list of emigrants, a potentially dangerous classification. Reunited with Bonaparte in Paris, they enjoyed bachelor life together, and among other incidents of that exciting time were horrified witnessing the rabble mobbing the royal family in the Tuileries (June 20) and the massacre of the Swiss Guards at the same spot (August 10). After that Bourrienne returned to his family home in Sens. Following the affair of 13 Vendémiaire (October 5, 1795) he moved back to Paris and again associated with Bonaparte, who was then second in command of the Army of the Interior and who soon left to command the Army of Italy. The spectacularly victorious general urgently summoned Bourrienne to Italy for the long negotiations with Austria (May–October 1797), where his knowledge of law and diplomacy was useful in drafting the terms of the Treaty of Campo Formio (October 7). Bourrienne recognized that his friend was likely to become a major historical figure, so he began making notes and filing copies of pertinent documents. In November 1797 his name was removed from the list of emigrants.

The following year he accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt as his private secretary. Later Bourrienne strongly defended the controversial decisions at Jaffa to euthanize the French plague victims and to bayonet the Turkish prisoners who had violated parole. They returned together on the adventurous voyage to Fréjus (September–October 1799), and Bourrienne helped in the parleys that led up to the coup d'état of Brumaire (November) 1799. Then they worked on the Constitution of the Year VIII, which made Bonaparte First Consul for ten years. Almost every day he arrived at 7 AM to work side by side with Bonaparte, often going on to 10 PM. Bourrienne left to become head of the police, but soon was recalled because Bonaparte needed him. He remained in Paris during the second Italian campaign, after which he watched with admiration as his friend continued to organize France so that it would be governed effectively under clearly codified laws by the talented men he brought into the government. As Bonaparte progressed to become Consul for Life Bourrienne recorded— with a mix of admiration and apprehension—his skilled maneuvers to clench power and to enrich his family. In the autumn of 1802 Bonaparte started to ease him out, after a few uncertain weeks firing him without stating a cause. Most likely Bonaparte was revolted by his financial speculations. They never talked together again. Bourrienne was in disgrace.

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