René Louis de Voyer de Paulmy, Marquis of Argenson
French statesman (1694-1757)
René-Louis de Voyer de Paulmy, marquis of Argenson (18 October 1694 – 26 January 1757) was a politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from November 1744 to January 1747 and was a friend of Voltaire. His younger brother, Marc-Pierre, Count of Argenson (1696–1764), was Minister of War from 1743 to 1757.
Life
René-Louis de Voyer de Paulmy was born 18 October 1694, eldest son of Marc-René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson (1652–1721) and Marguerite Le Fèvre de Caumartin (1672–1719). He had a younger brother, Marc-Pierre, Comte d'Argenson (1696–1764), who served as Minister of War from 1743 to 1747.
His father was Lieutenant General of Police and Controller-General of Finances, one of the most important positions in the Ancien Régime. He was a member of the Noblesse de robe or Nobles of the robe, a class that formed the Second Estate whose rank derived from holding judicial or administrative posts. They were usually hard-working professionals, unlike the aristocratic Noblesse d'épée or Nobles of the Sword. His grandfather and great-grandfather both served as French ambassador to the Republic of Venice.
Career
D'Argenson qualified as a lawyer, and held successively the posts of councillor at the Parlement (1716), maître des requêtes (1718), councillor of state (1719), and Intendant of justice, police and finance in Hainaut. During his five years’ tenure of the last office he was mainly employed in provisioning the troops, who were suffering from the economic confusion resulting from John Law's system and the aftermath of the Mississippi Bubble.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “René Louis de Voyer de Paulmy, Marquis of Argenson” is french statesman (1694-1757). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through René, Louis and Voyer, not as a finished interpretation.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1393507. VIAF identifies the subject as 184925137. The Library of Congress control number is n83165778. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1694, 1757, 1744 and 1747.
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This entry incorporates text from “René Louis de Voyer de Paulmy, Marquis of Argenson” 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.