HARCOURT, FRANÇOIS-EUGÈNE-GABRIEL, Duke of. - French diplomat, b. 22 Aug. 1786 at Jouy-en-Josas (Seine-et-Oise), d. 2 May 1865 in Paris. Having entered the military career, he resigned in 1820. Charged by the Philhellenic Committee with a mission to Charles X to obtain his intervention in favor of the Greek cause, he was unsuccessful. Elected deputy in 1827 and 1830, he gave his support to the Orleanist monarchy after the July Revolution.
Appointed ambassador to Madrid, he resigned because he did not approve of the anti-liberal policy of Ferdinand VII. A peer of France in 1837, he favored the gradual reduction of tariffs and opposed the plan for the fortifications of Paris. Offered the London embassy by Lamartine in 1848, he refused and went instead to Rome, where he represented the Second Republic until Sept. 1849. In preparing Pius IX’s departure for Gaeta, the Duke of H. acted in full agreement with Baron Spaur and was, together with Baron de Rayneval, one of the French plenipotentiaries at the diplomatic conference of Gaeta.