Alexandre Maurice Blanc de Lanautte, Comte d'Hauterive

Who was Alexandre Maurice Blanc de Lanautte, Comte d'Hauterive?

Alexandre Maurice Blanc de Lanautte, Comte d'Hauterive, French statesman and diplomatist, was born at Aspres on the 14th of April 1754, and was educated at Grenoble, where he became a professor. Later he held a similar position at Tours, and there he attracted the attention of the duc de Choiseul, who invited him to visit him at Chanteloup.

Hauterive there came in contact with noblemen who visited the duke. One of these, the comte de Choiseul-Goiffier, took Hauterive with him on his appointment as ambassador to Constantinople in 1784. Hauterive was enriched for a time by his marriage with a widow, Madame de Marchais, but was ruined by the French Revolution. In 1790 he applied for and received the post of consul at New York. Under the Consulate, however, he was accused of embezzlement and recalled; and, though the charge was proved to be false, was not reinstated.

In 1798, after trying his hand at farming in America, Hauterive was appointed to a post in the French foreign office.