Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), French statesman, who tried to reorganize the economic structure of France in order to increase French revenue and make the country self-sufficient. He was born at Reims. Colbert obtained employment in the office of the Minister of War at the age of 19. In 1651 Cardinal Jules Mazarin, chief minister of King Louis XIV, hired Colbert to handle his personal finances. Before Mazarin died in 1661, he recommended Colbert to the young king for preferment. At first Colbert held no office, but as adviser to the king he prosecuted the superintendent of finance for embezzlement. The office was abolished, but in effect reconstituted when Colbert was made comptroller general of finance in 1665.

Beginning with a drastic overhaul of finances, including prosecution of corrupt officials and repudiation of certain bonds, Colbert proceeded to reconstruct commerce and industry according to the economic principles known as mercantilism. Utilizing protective tariffs, government control of industry and trade, and navigation laws, Colbert organized trading and colonization companies, established model factories, and succeeded in extending French industry and trade. In 1669 Colbert was appointed Secretary of State for naval affairs, and under his direction networks of canals and roads were built, seaports were fortified, the French navy was greatly strengthened, and marine and colonial legal codes were devised. He was a patron of the arts and sciences, founding several learned societies or academies (now divisions of the Institut de France), providing pensions, and erecting public buildings.

Although Colbert was one of the most successful practitioners of the mercantile system, much of his work was undone by the extravagance of Louis XIV and the numerous foreign wars that drained the French economy during the king's reign. The precarious financial condition of France at Colbert's death was blamed on him, and the French people reacted against the overcentralized government control of industry. Today, however, Colbert is viewed by many historians as one of the greatest statesmen in French history.