Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin

Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin, 1st duc de Gaëte (19 January 1756 – 5 November 1841) was a French statesman who served as Minister of Finance of the French Empire under Napoleon I, from November 1799 to March 1814, and during the Hundred Days following Napoleon's return from exile in Elba.

1st Duc de Gaëte Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin
Portrait by Joseph-Marie Vien (1806)
Governor of the Banque de France
In office 6 April 1820 – 25 February 1836
Preceded by	Jacques Laffitte
Succeeded by	Jean Charles Joachim Davillier [fr]
Deputy for Aisne
In office 22 August 1815 – 17 July 1819
Minister of Finance
In office November 1799 – March 1814
Monarch	Napoleon I
Succeeded by	Dominique-Vincent Ramel-Nogaret (provisional, Hundred Days)
In office 3 November 1795 – 8 November 1795
Preceded by	Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois-Crancé
Succeeded by	Guillaume-Charles Faipoult
Personal details
Born	(1756-01-19)19 January 1756 Saint-Denis, Kingdom of France
Died	5 November 1841(1841-11-05) (aged 85) Gennevilliers, Kingdom of France
Occupation	Statesman administrator

Early life

Gaudin was born in Saint-Denis in 1756.

Career

He was Minister of Finance under the Directory from 3 November 1795 to 8 November 1795.

After Napoleon made him his Minister of Finance, where he held office until 1814, Gaudin organised the French direct contributions, reintroduced direct taxes ("droits réunis"), founded the Banque de France and the Cour des comptes, and set up the first cadaster, or record of land ownership as a basis of taxation. He was rewarded in 1809 with the duché grand-fief of Gaeta and the title of duc de Gaëte, in the then-French-controlled Kingdom of Naples; effectively, this was a life peerage, nominal but of high rank. During the Hundred Days return, Bonaparte reserved a seat for Gaudin in the planned imperial Chamber of Peers, but that never materialised.

After the Bourbon Restoration, he was deputy for the Aisne département, from 22 August 1815 to 17 July 1819, sitting with the constitutional party.

In 1820, he became governor of the Banque de France.

He died in the Gennevilliers château, near Paris, in 1841. He left his Memoirs, Opinions and Writings.

Sources

• Larousse (undated French encyclopaedia, early 20th century)
• Heraldica.org- Napoleonic heraldry

External links

Media related to Martin Michel Charles Gaudin at Wikimedia Commons