Joseph Eschassériaux

Joseph Eschassériaux known as 'Eschassériaux the elder', (born 29 July 1753 at Corme-Royal, died 24 February 1824 at Thénac (Charente-Maritime)), was a French politician of the revolutionary period. He was the older brother of René Eschassériaux and father of Camille Eschassériaux, both of whom also had political careers.

Before 1792 Joseph Eschassériaux studied law in the town of Saintes where his family were long-established aldermen. In 1775, at the age of 22, he began practising as a lawyer at the parlement of Bordeaux. In 1785 he became President of the Maronne tribunal, a post he held until the French Revolution. He supported the constitutional clubs, which had succeeded the revolutionary political clubs, and remained hostile to the Catholic Church. In 1797 he married Louise, the daughter of Gaspard Monge and Marie-Catherine Huart, with whom he had children. Their son Camille Eschassériaux was a député under the July Monarchy. where he served for seven years. In 1806 Napoléon named him chargé d'affaires for the Republic of Valais, and then Minister Plenipotentiary to the Principality of Lucca and Piombino until 1809. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur and was later made a Baron of the Empire in 1810.

On his return from Lucca, he devoted himself to writing about history. He retired to Saintes in 1814 but signed the Acte additionnel supporting Napoleon's return during the Hundred Days. In 1816, with the Bourbon Restoration he went into exile as a regicide. He fled first to Courtrai and then to Huy, but after just three years of exile he was given permission by Louis XVIII to return to France. He retired to his property at Thénac where he died in 1824 at the age of seventy.