HAUSSONVILLE, JOSEPH-OTHENIN-BERNARD DE CLÉRON, conte di. - French politician and writer, b. 27 May 1809 in Paris, d. there 27 May 1884. Having entered the diplomatic career during the Orléanist monarchy, he was secretary of the embassy at Brussels, Turin, and Naples.
A deputy from 1842 to 1848, he presented and supported various petitions by Protestants and declared himself in favour of the free exercise of their worship. Opposed to the Second Empire,
he began a fruitful career as a writer. He published a Histoire de la politique extérieure du gouvernement français de 1830-48 (Paris 1850), a Histoire de la réunion de la Lorraine à la France (ibid. 1854-59), and a work on l'Eglise Romaine et le Premier Empire, 1800-14 (ibid. 1863-1870). A conservative republican, he was elected senator for life in 1878. He sat on the right, opposed the dissolution of religious associations, and favoured the retention of the law of 1814 against work on feast days.