Pierre Clément de Laussat (1756–1835) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 politician, and the last French governor of Louisiana.

Laussat was born in the town of Pau. After serving as receveur général des finances in Pau and Bayonne

Bayonne

Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...

, he was imprisoned during the Terror

Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...

, but was released and recruited in the armée des Pyrénées. On April 17, 1797, he was elected to the Council of Ancients

Council of Ancients

The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders was the upper house of the Directory , the legislature of France from 22 August 1795 until 9 November 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the French Revolution.The Council of Ancients was the senior of the two halves of...

. After the coup of 18 Brumaire

18 Brumaire

The coup of 18 Brumaire was the coup d'état by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate...

, he entered the Tribunat on December 25, 1799. He was appointed by Napoleon Bonaparte to be colonial prefect (governor) of Louisiana

Louisiana (New France)

Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...

 in 1802, and arrived in the colony on March 26, 1803, just two weeks before Napoleon made his decision to sell Louisiana to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. For several months Laussat ruled as a normal governor, first abolishing the Cabildo

The Cabildo

The Cabildo was the seat of colonial government in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is now a museum. The Cabildo is located along Jackson Square, adjacent to St. Louis Cathedral.- History :The original Cabildo was destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire...

 and then publishing the Napoleonic Code

Napoleonic code

The Napoleonic Code — or Code Napoléon — is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...

 in the colony. Within several months, he heard that Louisiana had been sold to the U.S. but did not believe it. On July 28, 1803, he wrote to the French government to inquire whether the rumor was true. On May 18, 1803, he received word from Napoleon that France had declared war on England and that he was to transfer Louisiana to the United States. On December 20, 1803, Laussat transferred the colony to James Wilkinson

James Wilkinson

James Wilkinson was an American soldier and statesman, who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but was twice compelled to resign...

 and William Charles Cole Claiborne, representatives of the United States. On April 21, 1804, he left the colony and became colonial prefect of Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, serving until 1809 when he was captured and imprisoned by the British. He later retired to his ancestral chateau in France and died in 1835.