Colbert, Jean-Baptiste

Colbert, Jean-Baptiste

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, detail of a bust by Antoine Coysevox, 1677; in the Louvre, Paris.

(credit: Giraudon/Art Resource, New York)

(born Aug. 29, 1619, Reims, France—died Sept. 6, 1683, Paris) French statesman. He was recommended to Louis XIV by Jules Mazarin, whose personal assistant he had been. He engineered the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet, and thereafter he served the king both in his private affairs and in the administration of the kingdom. As controller general of finance from 1665, he brought order to financial operations, reformed the chaotic system of taxation, and reorganized industry and commerce. As secretary of state for the navy from 1668, he undertook to make France a great power at sea. He also sought to promote emigration to Canada and to enhance France's power and prestige in the arts. Though a series of wars prevented the fulfillment of all his reforms, he strengthened the monarchy and improved the country's public administration and economy, helping make France the dominant power in Europe.