Claudio Gabriele de Launay

Claudio Gabriele de Launay (6 October 1786 – 21 February 1850) was an Italian military officer who served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 27 March to 7 May 1849.[1][2] Previously he had been the last Viceroy of Sardinia from 1843 to 1848.

Claudio Gabriele de Launay
Prime Minister of Sardinia
In office
27 March 1849 – 7 May 1849
MonarchVictor Emmanuel II
Preceded byAgostino Chiodo
Succeeded byMassimo d'Azeglio
Personal details
Born(1786-10-06)6 October 1786
Duingt, Kingdom of Sardinia
Died21 February 1850(1850-02-21) (aged 63)
Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia
Political partyIndependent

Biography

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De Launay, born in a noble family from the French-speaking region of Savoy, was the son of Count Luigi Filiberto de Launay and the French noblewoman Anne de la Balme. He too married a French noblewoman, Camille Angelique Caze de Méry.

He started his military career by participating to the sixth and seventh anti-French coalitions. After the fall of Napoleon, de Launay re-entered the Savoyard army and was promoted to the Maggiore grade in 1825, Colonel in 1831 and Luogotenente Generale in 1843, the same year in which he became the last Viceroy of Sardinia.

After the defeat in the First War of Independence in Italy, de Launay was elected Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1849, holding at the same time the office of Foreign Minister, the first one after Vittorio Emanuele II's ascent to the throne. After the dissolution of the Parliament due to the overcoming of the Italian crisis, the king put in his place the moderate liberal Massimo d'Azeglio, before elections took place. De Launay was subsequently nominated Generale d'Armata and later retired to private life.

De Launay died in Turin in 1850.

References

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  1. ^ Testore, Paola Casana (1988). "DE LAUNAY, Gabriele". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 36. Treccani.
  2. ^ "DE LAUNAY Gabriele". Senate of the Republic (in Italian). Retrieved 11 February 2024.