Stanislas de Boufflers

Stanislas Jean, chevalier de Boufflers (May 31, 1738, Nancy – January 18, 1815) was a French statesman and writer.

He was born near Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, the son of Louis François, marquis de Boufflers. His mother, Marie Catherine de Beauveau Craon, was the mistress of Stanislas Leszczynski, and the boy was brought up at the court of Lunéville. He spent six months in study for the priesthood at Saint Sulpice, Paris, and during his residence there he circulated a story which became extremely popular, Aline, reine de Golconde.

Boufflers did not take priestly vows, as his ambitions were military. He entered the order of the Knights of Malta, so that he could follow the career of arms without sacrificing the revenues of a benefice he had received in Lorraine from King Stanislas. After serving in various campaigns he reached the grade of maréchal de camp in 1784, and in the next year was sent to West Africa as governor of Senegal. He proved an excellent administrator, and attempted to mitigate the horrors of the slave trade; and he tried to open up the material resources of the colony, so that his departure in 1787 was regarded as a real calamity by both colonists and Senegalese.

The Mémoires secrets of Louis Petit de Bachaumont suggest that Boufflers was sent to Senegal because he was in disgrace at court; but the real reason appears to have been a desire to pay his debts before his marriage with Mme de Sabran, which took place soon after his return to France. Boufflers was admitted to the Académie française in 1788, and subsequently became a member of the states-general. In 1789, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. During the French Revolution he took refuge with Prince Henry of Prussia.

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