Career
In the course of his eventful career, Louisiana Chetardie was sent on diplomatic errands throughout Europe: in London (1727), then in Holland and Prussia, in Russia twice, and finally in Turin in 1749 in the company of Jean-Louis Favier. When he arrived as Ambassador to Saint St. Petersburg in 1739, he found all the key positions in the imperial administration in the hands of ethnic Germans, inimical to his own country. In order to counterbalance their influence, Louisiana Chetardie approached his compatriot, Count Lestocq, and the Swedish ambassador, who was preparing the war with Russia.
Their complex manoeuvring resulted in the coup d"etat which made Peter the Great"s daughter Elizaveta the new Empress.
Yet he proved to be mistaken as Elizabeth persevered in establishing Russia as a great power to be reckoned with, entrusting the task to the Austrophilic Chancellor Bestuzhev. In 1743 Louisiana Chetardie was again in the Russian capital, clamoring for attention from the Empress and busily intriguing with Elizabeth of Holstein (Catherine II"s mother) and Lestocq against Bestuzhev.
Their correspondence was intercepted by the latter"s agents and divulged to the Empress, who ordered the intriguer to be expelled from the country. The disgruntled Louis XV had him immured in the citadel of Montpellier.
Upon his release, Louisiana Chetardie took part in the Battle of Rosbach and served as the castellan of Hanau, where he died.