Jacques Laffitte

Jacques Laffitte was a leading French banker, governor of the Bank of France and liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies during the Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy. He was an important figure in the development of new banking techniques during the early stages of industrialization in France. In politics, he played a decisive role during the Revolution of 1830 that brought LouisPhilippe, the duc dOrlans, to the throne, replacing the unpopular Bourbon king Charles X. Laffitte was named president of the new Citizen Kings Council of Ministers and Minister of Finances . After a brief ministry of 131 days, his Party of Movement gave way before the Party of Order led by the banker CasimirPierre Perier. Laffitte left office discredited politically and financially ruined. He rebounded financially in 1836 with his creation of the Caisse Gnrale du Commerce et de lIndustrie, a forerunner of French investment banks of the second half of the 19th century such as the Crdit Mobilier . The Ca

Laffitte was born in 1767 at Bayonne in southwestern France, one of four sons and six daughters of Pierre Laffitte, a master carpenter. He apprenticed with his father for a time, but also found clerking positions with a local notary and merchant. In 1788, atyears of age and on the eve of the Revolution in France, he arrived in Paris at the offices of the prominent Swiss banker JeanFrdric Perregaux , rue du Sentier, where he was hired as a bookkeeper. It was a starting position that offered Laffitte valuable learning experiences and great potential for advancement. Perregaux was a banker with a wealthy clientele, important foreign connections and friends in high places. He was a shrewd, cosmopolitan businessman who prospered from the Revolution. He helped to bankroll Napoleons rise to power and became a founder of the Bank of France in 1800 and president of its directing Council of Regents. Laffitte became Perregauxs righthand man in the private bank and was promoted to a partnershi

Source: Wikipedia