Jean-François-Aimé Dejean

Count of the French Empire

Jean-François-Aimé Dejean was born in Castelnaudary, Languedoc, on October 6, 1749. A graduate of the Mézières engineering school, he served as a military engineer, mainly in Picardy, until 1791.

During the Revolution, under the orders of Charles-François Dumouriez and then Jean-Charles Pichegru, he distinguished himself mainly in siege operations.

A divisional officer in 1795, he commanded Franco-Batavian troops in Holland from 1796 to 1797. He was then dismissed and did not serve again until August 1799, when he became Director of Fortifications.

Allied to the Consulate, Dejean was appointed State Councillor and sent to Genoa  to reorganize the Ligurian Republic.

Two years later, on March 2 1802, he became Minister of War Administration. Appointed Count in 1808, he left his post on January 2, 1810, following differences of opinion with the Napoleon I on the subject of suppliers. In February, he was elected to the French Senate.

In October 1812, he chaired the military commission that tried General Claude-François Malet and his accomplices.

In April 1814, Dejean refused to vote for Napoleon 1st's disqualification, which did not prevent King Louis XVIII from appointing him Governor of the École Polytechnique and Peer of France.

However, on the Emperor's return, Dejean, who had never concealed his Bonapartist convictions, readily accepted the position of Inspector General of Engineering and his appointment as Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, in the absence of the incumbent.

Naturally, he was excluded from any position during the Second Restoration. However, in December 1817, Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr entrusted him with the management of military supplies. He regained his peerage in 1819 and died in Paris on May 12, 1824, after a busy career as an engineer, soldier and administrator, during which he shone as much for his competence as for his honesty.

Jean-François-Aimé Dejean was buried in the 40th division of the Père Lachaise cemetery .

Dejean's name is inscribed on the 5th column (North pillar) of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile .

His brother, Jean-Antoine Dejean, also a general, served mainly during the French Revolution.