Joseph François Augustin Monneron

Joseph -François -Augustin Monneron ( born December 24, 1756 in Annonay, Ardeche; † August 3, 1824 in Barataria, in New Orleans ) is an entrepreneur, politician and banker was at the time of the French Revolution.

During his time as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, he coined together with his brothers, a copper coin, the revolving 1791-1793 " Monneron ". 1796 Director General of the " Caisse des comptes courants " called, he embezzled 2.5 million francs, was put on trial in 1798, but came - probably on the initiative of Barras - free again and spent the last years of his life overseas.

Life

Origin and first entrepreneurial activity

Augustin Monneron was the youngest of six sons of a Huguenot family of lawyers. His father Antoine Monneron (1693-1791) was by profession a lawyer and served first as a " contrôleur of fermes " in Antibes, before he was tax collector of Gabelle in Annonay. About his mother Barbe- Catherine, born Arnaud Monneron was related to Joseph François Dupleix, the Governor-General of French subsidiaries in India.

In 1777 Monneron settled as a merchant at Asnieres in Paris before he became director of the local tobacco factory. In the same year he also joined in the Kaufmannsloge the " Amis Réunis ". In 1791 he founded together with his brother Pierre- Antoine ( 1747-1801 ), who had until then sat in the Constituent Assembly, in Paris, the trading house " Monneron frères ".

Member of the Legislative Assembly; Coinage of " Monneron "

On September 28, 1791 elected him a total of 414 of the 710 electors of the department of Paris as deputies in the Legislative Assembly, the first acting as legislative parliament of France. During his tenure Monneron campaigned for the establishment of primary schools and argued for a hard line against eidverweigernde priest.

1791 received " Monneron frères " the right to mint its own coins, for which later the term " Monneron " naturalized. These were to copper coins to 2 and 5 sol produced between late 1791 and March 1792 on behalf of the brothers Monneron and using a steam engine in large numbers in Birmingham, England. Through their words " Médaille de confiance " the repayable in assignats coins under the name of " monnaie de confiance " (Eng. " trust money " ) were known and circulated by the end of 1793.

Put on the market by the brothers Monneron coins in circulation were victims of numerous restrikes and quickly lost their value. The company " Monneron frères " suffered in March 1792 bankruptcy, Pierre- Antoine fled and Augustin laid on April 1, his office as a member of parliament down. The production of " monnaie de confiance " was banned by an Act of 3 May 1792 and Monneron was given the opportunity to pay off his debtors over the next three years. His older brother Janvier, owner of a trading house on the Ile de France, it stood guarantee for him.

Second Career and again fall

Between 1792 and 1794 Monneron sat in prison several times, then took over but from 1794 as "agent of relations commerciales " a management role in the control of the French foreign trade. During the reign of Directors, it was finally appointed on 29 June 1796 the first Director General of the newly created " Caisse des comptes courants ". Only two years later, he caused a great public scandal when he suddenly disappeared on November 17, 1798 and a note left behind, in which he admitted to embezzling approximately 2.5 million francs.

After his arrest, he was charged on April 10, 1799, a criminal tribunal, but came - probably through the mediation of his friend Barras, who dominated the Board at this time - in May released and disappeared on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. After his return to France in February 1802, he was again arrested, then released, and finally fled permanently to America, where he spent his last years.