Pierre Derbigny

Pierre Augustin Charles Bourguignon Derbigny (June 30, 1769 – October 6, 1829) was the sixth Governor of Louisiana.

After the United States' annexation of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Derbigny was one of the representatives of the new Americans in Washington seeking self-government for the Orleans Territory.

In 1820, Derbigny resigned from the Supreme Court of Louisiana to run unsuccessfully for Governor against J. N. Destréhan, Abner L. Duncan, and Thomas B. Robertson.

He was one of the principal drafters of the 1825 Civil Code of Louisiana, along with Edward Livingston, François Xavier Martin, and Louis Moreau-Lislet.

In Derbigny's inauguration speech, he urged internal improvements, which the legislature supported, including: incorporation of a gas light company for New Orleans, several navigation companies for the Mississippi River and important bayous in the state, and the construction and repair of levees.

On October 3, 1829, after ten months in office, Governor Derbigny was thrown from a (horse-drawn) carriage and died three days later, in Gretna, Louisiana.