Francisco Domingo Joseph Bouligny y Paret (4 September 1736 – 25 November 1800) was a Spanish Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the acting governor of Louisiana in 1799.

At the age of 10, he was sent to a boys' school founded by the Bishop of Orihuela, from which he graduated in 1750 and joined the family import-export business,[6] which traded textiles, spices, wines, and more from both around the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic.

[2] As Bouligny was fluent in French, he was charged with delivering the Spanish government's messages to the Francophone inhabitants of Louisiana[10][11][12][13] and he acted as an interpreter during the military trial of the rebellion's leaders.

[16] However, a year later Bouligny was relieved from command by Unzaga and placed under house arrest for ordering a group of deserters six-year prison terms instead of the four-month sentence proscribed by the king's code.

[18] Memoria also highlighted the importance of good relations with the region's Native American peoples, and the need to improve the territory's defenses as a strategic buffer against British North America.

[23] Following on this settlement plan, in April 1779, Bouligny brought a group of 500 colonists, primarily Malagueños along with some Isleños, up Bayou Teche to establish the city of New Iberia.

[9][27][28] In late 1779, during the American Revolutionary War, Spain attacked British holdings in West Florida, and Bouligny participated in the capture of Fort Bute and the Battle of Baton Rouge.

By June 1784, the expedition captured 60 people, including the colony's leader, Jean Saint Malo;[30] in the following investigation, officials identified a dozen slaves as helping to plan escapes from plantations.

Esteban Rodríguez Miró travelled to West Florida to treat with the Muscogee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, Bouligny served as acting governor of Louisiana.

[33] The next year, Miró sent Bouligny to Natchez to enforce Spanish rule in the area and to resist American encroachment related to the West Florida Controversy.

[41][42][43] It was an advantageous marriage for both families, with Bouligny's political connections helping to settle an outstanding debt owed to Le Sénéchal d'Auberville's mother and enabling him to begin amassing property holdings in the city.