Henri Peyroux de la Coudreniere

Who is Henri Peyroux de la Coudreniere?

Henri Peyroux, de la Coudreniere, was a French politician and author who is perhaps best known for his scheme to transport the exiled Acadians from France to Louisiana, from which the people known as Cajuns are descended.

Born in Mortagne-sur-Sèvre in Poitou, to Charles Peyroux, an apothecary and surgeon, and Marguerite Suzanne Joudad, he conceived the idea of resettling the exiled Acadians in Spanish Louisiana.

Securing a commission and pension from Spain, Peyroux took the Acadian exile Olivier Terrio as a business partner, and together they worked with French and Spanish officials, as well as with the Acadian exiles, to coordinate the resettlement project. Complications arose when, for instance, Peyroux was arrested by French officials as a secret agent of Spain; in fact, the arrest had been arranged by French merchants who did not wish the Acadian exiles to depart without paying off their mounting debts. After numerous financial and bureaucratic setbacks, about 1,600 Acadian exiles sailed for Louisiana between May and October 1785.