COLBERT, JEAN-BAPTISTE

born Aug. 29, 1619, Reims, Fr. died Sept. 6, 1683, Paris controller general of finance (from 1665) and secretary of state for the navy (from 1668) under King Louis XIV of France. He carried out the program of economic reconstruction that helped make France the dominant power in Europe. Additional reading Writings of Colbert Colbert left among his papers Mmoires sur les affaires de finance de France (written c. 1663); a fragment entitled Particularits secrtes de la vie du Roy; and other accounts of the earlier part of Louis XIV's reign. There is an edition of the Lettres, instructions et mmoires de Colbert, by P. Clement, 9 parts. (186182). Works about Colbert. An English-language study of Colbert's life and work is C.W. Cole, Colbert and a Century of French Mercantilism, 2 vol. (1939). Authoritative works in French include: P. Clement, Histoire de la vie et de l'administration de Colbert (1846) and Histoire de Colbert et de son administration, 3rd ed., 2 vol. (1892); C. de la Ronciere, Un Grand ministre de la marine: Colbert (1923) and Histoire de la marine franaise, vol. 5 (1935); C.J. Gignoux, Monsieur Colbert (1942); and G. Mongredien, Colbert, 16191683 (1963).