Antoine Jacques Claude Joseph, comte Boulay de la Meurthe

Called to the bar at Nancy in 1783, he presently went to Paris, where he rapidly acquired a reputation as a lawyer and a speaker.

[1] He represented La Meurthe in the Council of Five Hundred, of which he was twice president, but his views developed steadily in the conservative direction.

He received the grand cross of the Legion of Honour and the title of count, was a member of Napoleon's privy council, but was never in high favour at court.

He was allowed to return to France in 1819, but took no further active part in politics, although he presented himself unsuccessfully for parliamentary election in 1824 and 1827.

[1] He published two books on English history:[1] A fragment of his memoirs:[1] His elder son, Comte Henri Georges Boulay de la Meurthe (1797–1858), was a constant Bonapartist, and after the election of Louis Napoleon to the presidency, was named (January 1849) vice-president of the republic.