François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, comte de Lyonnais (22 May 1715 – 3 November 1794) was a French cardinal and diplomat. He was the sixth member elected to occupy Seat 3 of the Académie française in 1744. Bernis was a prominent figure in the autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), starting from the chapter on "Convent Affairs".

Early life and career Born at Saint-Marcel d'Ardèche, de Bernis was of a noble, but impoverished family, and, being a younger son, was intended for the church. His father, Joachim de Pierre, seigneur de Bernis, was a captain of cavalry and, in 1697, was married to Marie Elisabeth, daughter of Nicolas de Chastel de Condres. The cardinal's elder brother was Philippe Charles François (1714–1774), baron de Pierrebourg, marquis de Pierre de Bernis, seigneur de Saint-Marcel. François was educated at the Louis-le-Grand college and the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, but did not take holy orders until 1755.

Bernis became known as one of the most expert epigrammatists in the joyous society of Louis XV's court, and by his verses won the friendship of Madame de Pompadour, the royal mistress, who obtained for him an apartment, furnished at her expense, in the Tuileries, and a yearly pension of 1500 livres. Voltaire admired his verses, calling him Babet la bouquetière. In 1744, he was elected to seat 3 of the Académie française.

In 1752, Bernis was appointed to the French embassy at Venice, (Parma, 1794), were collected and published after his death (Paris, 1797, etc.). His Mémoires et lettres 1715-58 (8 vols. Paris. 1878) are still interesting to the historian.