Major general in Rochambeau’s army (1780).

After a distinguished military career, made maréchal de camp (1780). The ami of the comtesse de Golowkin (c. 1780).

A great friend of Helvétius and of the philosophes, he frequented various salons and wrote diverse works including Essai sur l’Union de la Poésie et de la Musique (1765) and his most successful work, De la Félicité publique (1772). Elected to the Académie française (1775). Published his Voyages en Amérique septentrionale dans les années 1780, 1781 et 1782 (2 volumes, first edition 1781). Also wrote Discours sur les avantages qui résultent, pour l’Europe, de la découverte de l’Amérique (1787).

Born in Paris. Married in 1787 to Marie Brigitte Charlotte Joséphine de Plunkett, a young Irishwoman; one son, Alfred, born shortly after his death (1789).