Gaspard de Gueidan (de Valabre) (1688–1767) was a French aristocrat and lawyer. He served as the Président à mortier of the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence.
Biography
Early life Gaspard de Gueidan was born on 10 April 1688 in Aix-en-Provence.Monique Cubells, La Provence des lumières : Les parlementaires d'Aix au XVIIIe siècle, Paris: Maloine, 1984, p. 42Christian Wieland (ed.), Jörn Leonhard (ed.), What Makes the Nobility Noble?: Comparative Perspectives from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011 p. 283 He grew up at the Hôtel de Gueydan, located at 22 on the Cours Mirabeau.Ambroise Roux-Alphéran, Les Rues d'Aix, Aubin, 1848 He was baptised as a Roman Catholic in the Église de la Madeleine in Aix.Bertrand Jestaz, Art et artistes en France de la Renaissance à la Révolution, Paris: Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes, 2003, p. 259
His family were bourgeois from Reillanne. His grandfather Gaspard Gueidan (1616-1697), married to Catherine Brémond, purchased a position at the Court of Finances, thus becoming a member of the French aristocracy.Michel Vovelle, Les folies d'Aix ou la fin d'un monde, Le temps des cerises, 2003, p. 182-183 His father was Pierre de Gueidan, a wealthy lawyer, and his mother, Madeleine de Trets.Myra Nan Rosenfeld, Largillierre and the eighteenth-century portrait, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1982, p. 299
Career He entered the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence, where he served as Advocate General, protecting the concerns of the elite.Katharine Baetjer, Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-Century Europe, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011, p. 19 By the 1730s, his speeches were printed. In 1740, he became Président à mortier of the Parliament of Aix.
He was a member of the Académie de Marseille and dreamt of being elected to the Académie française.
His portrait was painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743) in 1738.Joanna Woodall, Portraiture: Facing the Subject, Manchester University Press, 1997, p. 69 Michael Levey, Painting and Sculpture in France, 1700-1789, Yale University Press, 1993, p. 7 The painting is based on the character of "Celadon" in L'Astrée by Honoré d'Urfé (1568-1635). It is now displayed in the Musée Granet in Aix.
Personal life
He married Angélique de Simiane, daughter of Joseph marquis de Simiane and Marguerite de Valbelle, on 24 March 1724. They had six children: Joseph Gaspard de Gueidan (1725-1784). His second wife was Henriette de Félix d'Ollières. They had a son: Alphonse de Gueidan (1783-1853). He married Joséphine Sibillot. After Joseph's death, Henriette married Jules Lemercier de Maisoncelle de Richemond (1803-1882). After his death, she donated the Château de Valabre to the city of Gardanne. Anne Adélaïde de Gueidan (1725-1786). She married Pierre Louis de Demandolx La Palud on 24 January 1745. She was also the mistress of Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) by some accounts.Judith Summers, Casanova's Women: The Great Seducer and the Women He Loved, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, pp. 144-167 Catherine de Gueidan (1728-1759). She married Claude de Prats on 4 August 1749. Pierre Claude Secret de Gueidan (1733-unknown). He became a Knight of Malta. Étienne Alexandre de Gueidan (1735-unknown). He also became a Knight of Malta. Timoléon de Gueidan (1744-unknown). He also became a Knight of Malta.
He died on 23 February 1767 in Aix-en-Provence.
Bibliography Gaspard de Gueidan, Discours prononcés au Parlement de Provence par un de messieurs les avocats généraux (Volumes 1 and 2, chez Quillau, 1739).Google Books Gaspard de Gueidan, Discours prononcés au Parlement de Provence par un de messieurs les avocats généraux (Volume 2, 1741).Google Books Gaspard de Gueidan, Discours prononcés au parlement de Provence (Volume 3, de Nully, 1753).Google Books Gaspard de Gueidan, Discours prononcés au parlement de Provence (Volume 5, 1762).Google Books
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