Louis-Guillaume Otto
Encyclopedia
Louis-Guillaume Otto was a French diplomat.

Life

Becoming a student of Christophe-Guillaume Koch and a friend of Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, he left France in 1779 on an embassy to the new United States of America as private secretary to the chevalier de La Luzerne. While in the USA, he succeeded François Barbé-Marbois
François Barbé-Marbois
François Barbé-Marbois, marquis de Barbé-Marbois was a French politician.-Early career:Born in Metz, where his father was director of the local mint, Barbé-Marbois tutored the children of the Marquis de Castries. In 1779 he was made secretary of the French legation to the United States...

 as secretary of the legation in May 1785, then served as chargé d'affaires ad interim twice. George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 and the main members of Congress honoured him with their friendship. He married Elizabeth Livingston, in March 1787, but she died in December.

He returned to France at the end of 1792 and shortly afterwards the Committee of Public Safety
Committee of Public Safety
The Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...

 made him head of the first political division for foreign affairs. However, the fall of the Girondins on 31st May 1793
Days of 31 May and 2 June 1793
The Days of 31 May and 2 June 1793 were a series of urban revolts in Paris during the French Revolution. They saw the fall of the Girondists under pressure from the people of Paris....

 led to Otto's dismissal and arrest. He then came close to being guillotined, but survived and followed Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 as secretary to the legation, then stayed there as chargé d'affaires when Sieyès was elected Director
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...

. A letter written by him on 6 July 1799 seems to be the earliest recorded use of the term Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 - he announces in the letter that that revolution began in France. He was moved to London in 1800, at first as commissioner for the exchange of prisoners of war, then as minister plenipotentiary. Commanded to look into negotiations with the British cabinet, in 1801 he negotiated the preliminaries of the peace of Amiens.
1803 saw him posted to the court of the Maximilian, Prince-Elector of Bavaria in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. In 1805 his influence on the Elector impressed Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

, who appointed him to the Conseil d'État and made him a Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

. In 1810 he was made ambassador to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, where he negotiated the conditions for Napoleon's second marriage to archduchess Marie Louise
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
Marie Louise of Austria was the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and later Duchess of Parma...

. Napoleon thanked him by making him count of Mosloy (comte de Mosloy) later in 1810. During his stay in Vienna, Louis-Guillaume Otto came into contact with the chancellor of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

, count Metternich, who was another former student of Koch.

He was kept out of politics during the First Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon  – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...

 and retired after the Second Restoration, since he had served as under-secretary for foreign affairs from 24 March to 22 June during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...

. On his death in 1817 he was buried in the 37th division of the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise.

Coat of arms

"Écartelé, aux 1 et 4 fascé d'or et de sable ; au 2 d'argent à une loutre de sable issante d'une rivière d'azur engoulant un poisson d'or ; au 3 de gueules au lion léopardé d'or tenant un coeur d'argent"

External links

  • http://www.napoleon-empire.com/personalities/otto.php
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