Louis, baron Costaz
Louis, baron Costaz (17 March 1767, Champagne-en-Valromey

Champagne-en-Valromey

Champagne-en-Valromey is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.On April 28, 2009, Champagne-en-Valromey was awarded the Wine Tasting International Pride Award for producing more than 12 different prize-winning wines in less than six months....

 (Bugey

Bugey

The Bugey is a historical region in the département of Ain , France. It is located in a loop of the Rhône River in the southeast of the département...

 – 15 February 1842, Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 was a French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

 and administrator.

His brother Gastroass was bishop of Nancy. After studying maths, he taught at the military school at Thiron until 1793, then at the Ecole Polytechnique

École Polytechnique

The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...

. A member of the Commission des Sciences et des Arts, he participated in the French invasion of Egypt, becoming secretary to the Institut d'Égypte

Institut d'Égypte

The Institut d’Égypte was a learned academy formed by Napoleon Bonaparte to carry out research during his Egyptian campaign.-Early work:It first met on 24 August 1798, with Gaspard Monge as president, Bonaparte himself as vice-president and Joseph Fourier and Costaz as secretaries...

 and a member of the Privy Council

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

 of Egypt, as well as accompanying Bonaparte to Suez

Suez

Suez is a seaport city in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...

.

On his return to France, he presided over the Tribunat (1801–1803) and was entrusted with organising a school of arts and crafts. Prefect of the Manche area (1804–1809) and a baron de l'Empire from 1809, he was intendant of crown buildings (1809–1813) before becoming director general of bridges and roads (1813–1814). Summoned to the Conseil d'Etat in 1813, he was made prefect of Nord (as extraordinary commissaire) during the Hundred Days

Hundred Days

The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...

and retired from public life shortly afterwards.