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PMarione
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Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject: Magon de la Villehuchet |
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| Quote: | | Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, 65, the founder of an investment fund that lost $1.4 billion with Bernard Madoff's Ponzi fraud, was found sitting at his desk at about 8 a.m. with both wrists slashed, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. A box cutter was found on the floor along with a bottle of sleeping pills on his desk. |
His ancestor, Contre-amiral Charles René Magon de Médine (born in 1763), died in command of the Algésiras at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. His conduct at the battle made honor to the French navy on this tragic day for the French empire.
His name is printed on South pillar of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Out of 660 names on the Arc de Triomphe, those belong to naval officers:
- Contre-amiral Pierre Baste (b in 1768) killed at the Battle of Brienne-le-Château on 29 January 1814. Brienne is right in the middle of France and Baste died as "Général de Brigade".
- Vice-amiral François Paul de Brueys d’Aigalliers (b in 1753) killed at the Battle of the Nile on 1st August 1798 while in command of l'Orient.
- Vice-amiral Eustache Bruix (1759 - 1805) was ministre de la marine et des colonies during the Directoire and in command of the "camp de Boulogne" in 1805 when he had to go back to Paris where he died of consumption.
- Contre-amiral Julien Marie Cosmao-Kerjulien (1761 - 1825) was in command of the Pluton at the Battle of Trafalgar. He was left in command of the French fleet after the capture of Villeneuve and the death of Magon, and sailed the remaining ships in Cadiz.
- Vice-amiral Denis Decres (1761 - 1820) was in command of "le Guillaume Tell" at the Battle of the Nile that he managed to sail back in Malta. Ministre de la Marine of Napoleon after 1801 till the Restauration, he died in a fire lighted by a servant who was trying to rob him. He is buried in the Père-Lachaise.
- Vice-amiral Victor Guy Duperré (1775 - 1846) won the Battle of Grand Port (Mauritius) 23-28 August 1810, the only French naval victory of the Napoleonic wars.
- Vice-amiral Maxime Julien Émeriau de Beauverger (1762 - 1845) was in command of le Spartiate at the Battle of the Nile.
- Vice-amiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (1755 - 1818) was at the Battle of the Nile. Napoleon said of him: Ganteaume n'était qu'un matelot, nul et sans moyens.
- Contre-amiral Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin (1768 - 1839) was in command of la Vénus during a famous cruize in the East Indies in 1809.
- Vice-Amiral Louis-René-Madeleine de Latouche-Tréville (1745 - 1804) was in command of the Flotille de Boulogne during the failed attempts of Nelson in 1801. He died in Toulon during the preparation of the great expedition that was to become the fleet of Trafalgar.
- Vice-Amiral Jean-Matthieu-Adrien Lhermitte (1766 - 1826) distinguished himself on board la Preneuse in the East Indies in 1799.
- Vice-amiral Charles Alexandre Durand de Linois (1761 - 1848) won the Battle of Algeciras in 1801, capturing Hannibal.
- Vice-amiral Pierre Martin (1752 in Canada - 1820) was in command of the Mediterranean fleet during the campaigns of 1794-1795 against Hotham. Ha was préfet maritime of Rochefort during the disaster of the Ile d'Aix in 1809 (Gambier - Cochrane).
- Vice-amiral Édouard Thomas de Burgues de Missiessy (1756 - 1837) was in charge of a successful expedition in the West Indies in 1804.
- Contre-Amiral Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Perrée (b in 1761) was killed while in command of le Généreux on 18th February 1800 off Malta.
- Contre-amiral Jean François Renaudin (1750 - 1809) was in command of le Vengeur du Peuple made famous in the French public for her desperate fight at the Batlle of the 1st of June 1794.
- Vice-amiral Claude Charles Marie Ducampé de Rosamel (1774 - 1848) distinguished himself during the fight of la Pomone in 1801. In 1836-39 he was ministre de la Marine et Colonies and known as a franc imbécile.
- Vice-amiral François Étienne de Rosily-Mesros (1748 - 1832) was sent by Napoleon to supersede Villeneuve but arrived after that Villeneuve had sailed for his fate at Trafalgar.
- Vice-amiral Pierre César Charles Guillaume de Sercey (1753 - 1836) was in command of the French fleet in the Indian Ocean from 1796 till 1800.
- Contre-amiral Amable Gilles Troude (1762 - 1824) was in command of le Formidable on 14 July 1801 when she defeated the Tamise and the Venerable off Cadiz.
- Amiral Laurent Jean François Truguet (1752- 1839) was ministre de la Marine et Colonies under the Directoire. He succeeded Martin as préfet maritime after the disaster of the Isle d'Aix.
- Vice-amiral Charles Henri Ver-Huell (1764 in the Netherlands - 1845) was in charge of the flotilla in Flessingue during the preparation of the invasion of England in 1801.
- Vice-amiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (1748 - 1812), a pupil of Suffrein, was in command of the French fleet during the Battles of June 1794.
- Vice-amiral Pierre Charles Silvestre de Villeneuve (b in 1763) was in command of the combined fleet at Trafalgar. He commited suicide in Rennes in 1806.
- Vice-amiral Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez (1761 - 1845) is best known for his dictionnaire de marine.
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alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
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| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 11:39 am Post subject: |
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A poignant tale.
Did a sense of `honour' and reverence for the family name , rather than mere shame or fear of personal public disgrace, prompt the decision to take his own life?
How is that family connection being commented upon in France - is it even being recognised? One assumes it would be?
[Happy Christmas to all who visit here] |
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PMarione
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| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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One can imagine that old aristocracy and education still can provide you with a sense of honour and pride.
Seems that not many bankers are jumping through the windows in Wall Street these days. Better try to get away with the juciest bonus available.
I didn't see any ref to his ancestor in the French press. In the "Monde" they speak of an old Breton family. Trafalgar is not a subject to be spoken of in France even today.
I remember the "maire" of Calais making a speech of half an hour for the inauguration of EH monument there without even mentioning Nelson once. |
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