born 1697, Landrecies, France
died Nov. 10, 1763, Paris
French colonial administrator who attempted to establish a French empire in India.
His father, a director of the French East India Company , secured him an appointment in 1720 to the superior council of Pondicherry, capital of French India, and in 1742 he was named governor-general of French India. He fought the British in India during the War of the Austrian Succession (1744) and later attempted to undermine the British position in southern India. His schemes exhausted French finances, and he was recalled to France, discredited, in 1754.