Family and relatives Pierre Victor de Besenval was born near
Solothurn,
Switzerland, to
Jean Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt and Katarzyna, Baronne de Besenval de Brunstatt, née Bielińska (1684–1761), at the family's country estate,
Schloss Waldegg. His father was a colonel of the Regiment of
Swiss Guards in the pay of France. Through his mother, Pierre Victor de Besenval was the grandson of the Polish politician
Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński. In 1726, when he was five years old, his mother brought him to France, where his parents already lived.
Accumulation of power: A state affair in Solothurn , where he was born. Although Pierre Victor de Besenval spent the vast majority of his life in Paris, he still represented his family in the political bodies of the city of Solothurn, partially represented by his cousins during his absence. The family de Besenval was extremely powerful due to their wealth. Between 1707 and 1723, the family ruled the city of Solothurn almost single-handedly. The family's wealth came primarily from the salt trade and the
mercenary business with France. The family's concentration of power was therefore viewed with mixed feelings in Solothurn. And when, in 1763, it was proposed that Pierre Victor de Besenval, who had held a seat in the Grand Council (parliament) since 1743, should be made a
Conseiller Honoraire in recognition of his services to the reform of the army, this caused a state affair, whereupon Pierre Victor de Besenval was expelled from the Grand Council between 1764 and 1769. In the early 1760s, the Baron de Besenval played a key role in the
Duc de Choiseul's reform of the army. After being appointed military governor of
Haguenau in 1766, he was made
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Swiss Guards in 1767. Furthermore, in 1781, he was promoted to
Commandant en chef of the troops and
garrisons in the interior of France.
In the service of the Swiss Confederation At that time, the Baron de Besenval was at the height of his power at the royal court. He was the most influential Swiss ever to have served at the French court. Switzerland, at the time the
Confederation of the XIII cantons, capitalised on this influence, using the popular baron as its ambassador to the royal court.
Hôtel de Besenval It was on 5 December 1767, that Pierre Victor de Besenval bought his Parisian residence, the
Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, thereafter renamed
Hôtel de Besenval, and where he kept one of the most famous paintings of its time:
La Gimblette by
Jean-Honoré Fragonard. The Hôtel de Besenval has housed the
Embassy of the
Swiss Confederation and the residence of the
Swiss ambassador to France since 1938.
French Revolution, family and last years during the imprisonment of Pierre Victor de Besenval in the
Grand Châtelet in 1789. The inscription on the briefcase under the window reads
Le Baron de Bezenval. The painting was later owned by the baron's son
Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, before being purchased for the
Louvre in 2012. On 1 March 1790, Pierre Victor de Besenval was acquitted of all charges. This was due in no small part to the fact that his compatriot
Jacques Necker, the French Finance Minister, kept his protective hand over him. Following the acquittal, King
Louis XVI and Queen
Marie Antoinette had publicly expressed their joy that the baron had been acquitted of all charges. The King of Poland wrote in his letter: ''"Though I am by no means without occupations, I have nevertheless reread Monsieur
Desèze's plaidoyer for the Baron de Besenval. The second reading afforded me yet greater pleasure. He pleaded for my relative with greater success than
Cicero in his defence of
Milo, and certainly with more courage, although the danger was at least equal. Pray, ask Monsieur Desèze to accept, with the enclosed medal, a token of my esteem and gratitude. I note with especial satisfaction in his speech the justice he does to the truly good
Louis XVI."''
An illegitimate heir for his treasure house in Paris from around 1720 and remodelled by the ebeniste E. J. Cuvellier around 1765, so that the bureau plat
matches the cartonnier
(filing cabinet), which was manufactured by Bernard III van Risenburgh about that time. Pierre Victor de Besenval probably inherited the bureau plat
from his father. The bureau plat
and the cartonnier
were once in the possession of Gustave Samuel James, Baron de Rothschild, at the Hôtel de Marigny. The bureau plat'' is shown here at the
Christie's sales exhibition in Paris in 2025. The
bureau plat and the
cartonnier were previously sold by Christie's in London in 2021 for EUR 462,500. Pierre Victor de Besenval was considered a womaniser. Accordingly, he had several affairs. The mother of his son,
Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, was Louise-Anne-Madeleine, Marquise de Ségur, née de Vernon (1729–1778), the wife of his best friend
Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur. However, this was no secret within the family. And this fact in no way clouded the relationship between all those involved. Quite the contrary. Pierre Victor de Besenval and the members of the family de Ségur enjoyed being together. The baron spent a lot of time at the château of the Marquis de Ségur in
Romainville. They saw themselves as one big family. That may also have been the reason why the baron never married. by his son
Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, in the monarchist newspaper
Feuille du Jour, of which the Vicomte de Ségur was co-editor. The funeral took place on 6 June in the church of
Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Pierre Victor de Besenval died in Paris on 2 June 1791 in his residence, the
Hôtel de Besenval, which he bequeathed to his only child, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre de Ségur. However, more precisely, the baron's son only inherited the bare ownership of the residence on the Rue de Grenelle, as well as some other personal possessions. The baron bequeathed the
usufruct of the Hôtel de Besenval to his lifelong friend
Maréchal Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur, Baron de
Romainville, Seigneur de
Ponchapt et de
Fougueyrolles, who was the legal father of Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur. Furthermore, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre de Ségur was not the heir to the baron's country estate in Switzerland, the
Schloss Waldegg. The estate was passed down within the family de Besenval. == Remembered by the personalities of his time ==