BOULOGNE, ETIENNE-ANTOINE. - French prelate, born at Avignon on 26 Dec. 1747, died in Paris on 13 May 1825. He was elected deputy to the Assembly of the Bailliage of Paris. Vicar of Saint-Marguerite in Paris, he refused to take the oath imposed by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Imprisoned in 1792, he was not released until 1794, and during the Consulate and the Empire he led a very adventurous life; thanks to the protection of Cardinal Fesch, he was appointed almoner to Napoleon; he refused the bishopric of Acqui, but in 1808 received that of Troyes. In 1817 his transfer to the archdiocese of Vienne did not materialize. From 1812 he was a peer of France. Because of his activity, B. is considered the founder of the French Catholic press in the 19th century.
His works (sermons, panegyrics, discourses that were much celebrated, and various articles on religion, morals, and criticism) were published in 1828, preceded by a biography of him.