Pierre Victor, baron Malouet

Pierre Victor, baron Malouet (11 February 1740 – 7 September 1814), a French slave-owner, conservative publicist and monarchist politician, who signed as an "Émigré" the Whitehall Accord.

Malouet was born in Riom as the son of a bailli in Puy-de-Dôme. He was educated at the College of Juilly (1754–1756) before studying law. Then he opted for a career in the diplomatic service and in 1758 he was sent to the French Embassy in Lisbon and met with the Marquis de Pombal. When he returmed to France he was given an administrative role in the French Army under the Duc de Broglie. In 1763 he was appointed intendant at Rochefort and became commissary in San Domingo in 1767. There he married and acquired significant number of sugar plantations. He returned to France in 1774, and took up the role of as commissary-general of the navy. In 1776 he was entrusted to carry out plans of improving the colonization of French Guiana. The next year Malouet and his wife made a 7-weeks trip to Paramaribo, to discuss the 200 Maroon that had fled from Surinam to Guiana. Malouet criticized the way the Dutch treated their slaves, after he had visited 26 plantations. To improve the relation between the owners and the slaves, Malouet "promoted" religion. He was almost taken prisoner during the American War of Independence by an English corsair on his return to Cayenne.

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