Background
He was born near Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, the son of Louis François, marquis de Boufflers. His mother, Marie Catherine de Beauveau Craon, was the mistress of Stanislas Leszczynski, and the boy was brought up at the court of Lunéville.
governor philosopher writer poet
He was born near Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, the son of Louis François, marquis de Boufflers. His mother, Marie Catherine de Beauveau Craon, was the mistress of Stanislas Leszczynski, and the boy was brought up at the court of Lunéville.
He spent six months in study for the priesthood at Saint Sulpice, Paris, and during his residence there he circulated a story which became extremely popular, Aline, reine de Golconde. Boufflers did not take priestly vows, as his ambitions were military. He entered the order of the Knights of Malta, so that he could follow the career of arms without sacrificing the revenues of a benefice he had received in Lorraine from King Stanislas.
After serving in various campaigns he reached the grade of maréchal de camp in 1784, and in the next year was sent to West Africa as governor of Senegal.
He proved an excellent administrator, and attempted to mitigate the horrors of the slave trade. And he tried to open up the material resources of the colony, so that his departure in 1787 was regarded as a real calamity by both colonists and Senegalese.
During the French Revolution he took refuge with Prince Henry of Prussia. At the Restoration he was made joint-librarian of the Bibliothèque Mazarine.
His paradoxical character was described in an epigram attributed to Antoine de Rivarol, "abbé libertin, militaire philosophe, diplomate chansonnier, émigré patriote, républicain courtisan.".
Académie française; Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]
Boufflers was admitted to the Académie française in 1788, and subsequently became a member of the states-general. In 1789, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.