Adolphe Billault
French politician (1805-1863)
Adolphe Augustin Marie Billault (French pronunciation: [adɔlf oɡystɛ̃ maʁi bijo], 12 November 1805 – 13 October 1863) was a French lawyer and politician who played a leading role in the governments of Napoleon III.
Early years
Adolphe Augustin Marie Billault was born on 12 November 1805 in Vannes, Morbihan, to an obscure family. As a young lawyer he asked for the hand of a rich heiress, Françoise Bourgault-Ducoudray. He told his prospective father-in-law, Guillaume Bourgault-Ducoudray, that he had little money and no reputation, but in three years would be the leading lawyer in Nantes, in another three years would be a national representative, and three years later would be a minister. Impressed by his determination, the young woman accepted him. He kept his word. By 1830 he was a municipal Councillor in Nantes. He became President of the Bar of his order, and member of the General Council of the Loire-Inférieure.
National deputy
Billault was elected deputy on 4 November 1837 for the constituency of the Lower Loire (Aucenis), taking his seat on the left and voting with the opposition.
As a lawyer he became the adviser of the Duke of Aumale.
He was reelected on 2 March 1839 and accepted the position of Deputy Secretary of State of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, under the minister Alexandre Goüin.
“Adolphe Billault” enters the record as french politician (1805-1863). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Adolphe, Billault and French can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q505189. VIAF identifies the subject as 49367618. The Library of Congress control number is nr98044510. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1805, 1863, 1830 and 1837.
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This entry incorporates text from “Adolphe Billault” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.