Jacques Necker

Necker, Jacques 

Born Sept. 30, 1732, in Geneva; died Apr. 9, 1804, in Coppet, near Geneva. French financier and statesman; father of Madame de Staël.

Necker began his career in 1750 as a bank employee in Paris. He amassed a great fortune through clever financial dealings during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63) and became head of a bank. He gained prominence not only through his financial reputation but also for published works on economics, in which he attacked the views of the Physiocrats, especially A. R. Turgot. Necker argued for state regulation of the grain trade.

In 1776, Necker was appointed director of the royal treasury and in 1777 director-general (minister) of finances. He tried to solve the state’s acute financial crisis. However, his measures—including restrictions on court expenditures and a number of changes in the tax collection system—were only partial reforms; although they encroached in some ways on the interests of the royal court and the court aristocracy, they did not affect the basis of the feudal-absolutist system. The publication of Necker’s financial report telling of the enormous sums of money received by courtiers from the treasury made a great impression, especially among the third estate, and his popularity rose still further.

In 1781 the king dismissed Necker. But as the financial crisis worsened, the court was compelled to recall him as minister of finance in August 1788. Necker hoped to alleviate the financial crisis through strict control over the expenditure of state funds. He played a major role in the convocation of the estates general of 1789 and in granting double representation to the third estate. On July 11 of that year, Louis XVI dismissed Necker but was forced to recall him to his former post after the victory of the popular uprising of July 14, 1789. However, Necker’s timid policy was now inadequate to meet the scope of the revolution. Necker resigned in September 1790 and thereafter played no political role.

WORKS

Oeuvres complètes, 15 vols. Paris, 1820–21.

REFERENCE

Jolly, P. Necker. Paris, 1951.

A. Z. MANFRED