1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Laverdy, Clément Charles François de

LAVERDY, CLÉMENT CHARLES FRANÇOIS DE (1723–1793), French statesman, was a member of the parlement of Paris when the case against the Jesuits came before that body in August 1761. He demanded the suppression of the order and thus acquired popularity. Louis XV. named him controller-general of the finances in December 1763, but the burden was great and Laverdy knew nothing of finance. Three months after his nomination he forbade anything of any kind whatever to be printed concerning his administration, thus refusing advice as well as censure. He used all sorts of expedients, sometimes dishonest, to replenish the treasury, and was even accused of having himself profited from the commerce in wheat. A court intrigue led to his sudden dismissal on the 1st of October 1768. Henceforward he lived in retirement until, during the Revolution, he was involved in the charges against the financiers of the old régime. The Revolutionary tribunal condemned him to death, and he was guillotined on the 24th of November 1793.

See A. Jobez, La France sous Louis XV (1869).