Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta

Who was Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta?

Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta was a French soldier, diplomat, and politician, who served as Naval Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of State under the July Monarchy. Joining the French Revolutionary Army in his youth, he rose in its ranks and became a supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte. Sébastiani was the French Consulate's emissary to the Levant, notably drafting plans to reconquer Ottoman Egypt, and later served as the Empire's Ambassador to the Porte. In the latter capacity, he attempted to increase French influence and signaled pro-Russian activities in the Danubian Principalities, thus provoking the War of 1806–1812. In 1807, Sébastiani organized the defense of Constantinople during the Dardanelles Operation. Recalled on British pressures after the deposition of Selim III, he served in the Peninsular War and resided in the Alhambra, took part in the unsuccessful invasion of Russia, and defended the Champagne region in front of the Sixth Coalition.

Sébastiani recognized the Bourbon Restoration, but rallied with Napoleon during the Hundred Days, being elected to the Chamber for the first time in 1815. Briefly exiled after the return of King Louis XVIII, he was again admitted to the Chamber in 1819, sitting with the Left faction, supporting liberal politics, and coming into conflict with the Jean-Baptiste de Villèle cabinet. After the July Revolution, he endorsed Louis-Philippe. Sébastiani's time as Foreign Minister saw France's involvement in the Belgian Revolution, its refusal to sanction the November Uprising, the controversial solution to a commercial dispute with the United States, and the French occupation of Ancona. In later years, he served as ambassador. The 1847 murder of his daughter, Fanny, most likely perpetrated by her husband Charles de Choiseul-Praslin, indirectly helped foment the 1848 Revolution.