Joseph d'Haussonville

Who was Joseph d'Haussonville?

Joseph Othenin Bernard de Cléron, comte d'Haussonville, was a French politician and historian.

He was born in Paris. His grandfather had been grand louvetier of France; his father was Charles Louis Bernard de Cléron, comte d'Haussonville Comte Joseph had filled a series of diplomatic appointments at Brussels, Turin and Naples before he entered the chamber of deputies in 1842 for Provins. Under the Second Empire, he published a liberal anti-imperial paper at Brussels, Le Bulletin français, and in 1863 he actively supported the candidature of Prévost Paradol.

He was elected to the Académie française in 1869, in recognition of his historical writings, Histoire de la politique extérieure du gouvernement français de 1830 à 1848, Histoire de la réunion de la Lorraine à la France, L'église romaine et le premier empire 1800-1814. In 1870 he published a pamphlet directed against the Prussian treatment of France, La France et la Prusse devant l'Europe, the sale of which was prohibited in Belgium at the request of King Wilhelm of Prussia.