Martignac, Jean Baptiste SylvEre Gay, vicomte de, French History, Biographies

Related Category: French History, Biographies

Martignac, Jean Baptiste SylvEre Gay, vicomte de[zhAN bAtEst´ sElver´ gA vEkONt´ du mArtEnyAk´] Pronunciation Key, 1778–1832, French statesman. He was elected (1821) to the chamber of deputies and was named a member of the council of state in 1822. In 1828 he was made minister of the interior and virtual head of the new cabinet by King Charles X after the fall of the ministry of the comte de VillEle. Martignac's cabinet, composed of both liberals and reactionaries, was ineffective; his liberal reforms were killed by the ultraroyalists. The king had never liked Martignac's moderate concessions to the liberals and in 1829 dismissed him and appointed the reactionary prince de Polignac to succeed him.

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