Camille de Briey

Camille de Briey (27 June 1800 – 3 June 1877) was a Belgian industrialist, politician and diplomat.

Early life Camille was born in Ruette, Virton, Belgium on 27 June 1799 to Louis Briey and Anne de Pouilly. He received his secondary education at the Imperial College of Metz (now the Lycée Fabert). After graduating, he spent time at the court of Saxe-Coburg with his cousin Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly. On 29 September 1829 he married Caroline Beauffort. After the July Revolution and the fall of the House of Bourbon in 1830, Camille moved to Austria but returned to Belgium in 1832 after Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was proclaimed king.

Industrial career For a few years, Camille attempted to revive the field of metallurgy in the province of Luxembourg by buying the Perrard institutions in Virton, in 1835.

Political/diplomatic career In 1838, Camille delegated the management of his business to a Frenchman and entered politics. In 1839, he was elected as senator and held the position until 1848. In 1841, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance in the cabinet of Jean-Baptiste Nothomb. (from 1853 he was the first Belgian minister plenipotentiary in Russia) and then to the German Confederation, spending ten years at the Diet of Frankfurt.

He was instrumental in the construction of the Château de Laclaireau.

Honours Order of Leopold Officer; 7 July 1843. Commander; 3 June 1847. Grand Officer; 19 July 1856.