François V de Beauharnais, Marquis de La Ferté-Beauharnais (16 January 1714, La Rochelle – 18 June 1800, Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was a French nobleman, soldier, politician, colonial governor and admiral. He was seigneur de Beaumont et de Bellechauve, baron de Beauville, 1st marquis de la Ferté-Beauharnais, chef d'escadre des armées royales, and governor of the French colony of Martinique. He was the son of Claude de Beauharnais, sieur de Beaumont et de Bellechauve (1674-1738), and his wife, Renée Hardouineau de Landanière (1696-1766).[1]
Francis V of Beauharnais | |
|---|---|
 François de Beauharnais | |
| Born | 16 January 1714 La Rochelle |
| Died | 18 June 1800 (aged 86) Saint-Germain-en-Laye |
| Noble family | Beauharnais |
| Spouse(s) | Henriette Pyvart de Chastillé |
| Father | Claude de Beauharnais |
| Mother | Renée Hardouineau |
| Governor general of the French Antilles | |
| In office May 1757 – 7 February 1761 | |
| Preceded by | Maximin de Bompart |
| Succeeded by | Louis-Charles de La Touche |
| Governor of Martinique | |
| In office May 1757 – 7 February 1761 | |
| Preceded by | Alexandre Rouillé de Rocourt |
| Succeeded by | Louis-Charles de La Touche |
Marriages and issue
editOn 13 September 1751, at Blois, François de Beauharnais married Marie Anne Henriette Françoise Pyvart de Chastullé (17 March 1722 – 5 October 1766). They had three children:
- François de Beauharnais (1752–1753)
- François de Beauharnais (VI) (1756–1846), seigneur de Beaumont et de Bellechauve, baron de Beauville, 3rd comte des Roches-Baritaud, 2nd marquis de la Ferté-Beauharnais
- Alexandre de Beauharnais (1760–1794).
On Henriette's death, François de Beauharnais in 1796 married Marie Euphémie Désirée Tascher de la Pagerie (1739–1803), an aunt of Josephine de Beauharnais.[2]
Life
editIn 1751, he was made chef d'escadre des vaisseaux du roi, then governor of Martinique. On 20 April 1752, he acquired the château de La Ferté-Avrain, which had recently been rebuilt. In recognition of his services to France, on 7 July 1764 Louis XV promoted him to the status of marquis, allowing him to raise his lands at La Ferté-Avrain into the marquisat. From then on, La Ferté-Avrain was called La Ferté-Beauharnais after him.
Royal descendants
editFrançois V de Beauharnais is the ancestor of Nicolas of Leuchtenberg, Napoleon III and the current royal houses of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Belgium through Josephine of Leuchtenberg, later Queen of Sweden.