Bertrand Dufresne

Bertrand Dufresne (24 November 1736 – 22 February 1801) was a French financier, civil servant and politician, who served in multiple senior government positions before and after the French Revolution.

Early life Born on 24 November 1736 in Navarrenx, his father was Nicolas Dufresne, a cordwainer from Versailles, who after moving to Bearn married Anne Campagnet, a local Cagot woman. In 1748 Dufresne was able to move to Bayonne to work as a bank clerk under the tutelage of .

Later life La Borde later recommended Dufresne to Étienne François de Choiseul, who in 1764 appointed him to the Court Bank in Versailles under Jean-Joseph de Laborde. By 1767 he was one of the two main cashiers of the Caisse d'Escompte, during which time he owned and lived at 22 Place Vendôme. By 1775, he was the controller-paymaster at the . He then became first clerk of the in 1777. He reorganised the office of general revenue in 1781. He was later appointed receiver general at the in 1782.

The support of the Controller-General of Finances, Jacques Necker, enabled him to become a councillor of state, the intendant general of the French navy, and then from September 1790 until 1792, the director general of the public treasury; during this period he lived on Rue de Richelieu. In this period he was praised by his colleagues for his dedication to work and skill in finance.

In August 1791 he had to step aside for the six commissioners of the new . Through the revolutionary period Dufresne was a monarchist. Imprisoned during the reign of terror, he was then released and elected deputy for the Seine in the Council of Five Hundred on 21 Germinal in Year V (10 April 1797) and was placed in charge of public finances. As secretary of the council, he was also in charge of supplies to the armies.

Dufresne was expelled after the coup of 18 Fructidor in Year V (4 September 1797), but as a long-time ally of Charles-François Lebrun, he was finally appointed to the after the coup of 18 Brumaire in Year VIII (9 November 1799). He was then appointed director general of the treasury on 1 Pluviôse in Year VIII (21 January 1800), under finance minister Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin.

Death Dufresne died 3 Ventôse in Year IX (22 February 1801). In honour of his work, Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned a bust of Dufresne to be placed within the treasury, which was dedicated on 30 Pluviôse in Year X (19 February 1802) by François Barbé-Marbois.