Necker, Jacques

(1732-1804)

   financier, statesman

   Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Jacques Necker came to Paris in 1747 as an apprentice to a banking firm. He subsequently improved his financial position and his knowledge of financial operations to such an extent that, in 1763, he established his own bank. In part also because of the influence of his wife, who held a salon frequented by the best individuals of the age, he was able to launch a public career. In 1772, he became known for his Éloge de Colbert, recognized by the Académie Française and, in 1775, for his notable economic study, Essai sur la législation et le commerce des grains, in which he criticized the free-trade policies of Robert turgot, whom he succeeded as director of the Royal Treasury (1776), then as director of finances (1777). Necker tried to make the best of a financial situation rendered particularly difficult by the considerable expenses of the royal court and such costly and imprudent policies as the loans made to Americans for their War of Independence. He tried to reform the policy on imports, improve provincial administration (the creation of provincial assemblies in 1778), suppress the mortmain (right to own land inalienably) and the personal services on royal estates (1779), and also reform penal policies. A more equitable system of taxation was proposed and a plan for the funding of the national debt. The publication of his Compte rendu au Roi (1781) presented a comprehensive analysis of national finances. It was generally well received by the public, but because he recommended the controlling of royal extravagances, he was dismissed and replaced soon after by charles-alexandre de calonne. The financial crisis, however, led to a political one, and in August 1788, Necker was recalled as minister of state by King louis XVI shortly after the calling of the Estates General. Necker called for a meeting of the Assembly of Notables (November-December 1788) and, in spite of the opposition of the aristocracy, succeeded in getting the representation of the Third Estate doubled in the Estates General. His recall again by the king (July 11, 1789) contributed to the development of the revolutionary movement, and he was reappointed on July 15, a day after the storming of the bastille. Necker never succeeded, however, in redressing the economic and financial situation, and he retired from public life, settling at Coppet, Switzerland, with his daughter, Mme de staël, and discussing his economic policies in his work De la Révolution française (1796).