François V de 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 (1680–1738), sieur de Beaumont et de Bellechauve, and his wife Renée Hardouineau.
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 (1722–1767). 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 Désirée Eugénie Tascher de La Pagerie (1739–1803).
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.
Genealogy
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.