Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739 – August 7 1817), born in Paris, France, was the founder of a dynamic and innovative family of entrepreneurs. He was first son of Samuel du Pont and Anne Alexandrine Montechanin ; he added the name of a district south of Paris called "de Nemours" to distinguish himself from other du Ponts in the Assembly.[1]

He was initially a supporter of the French Revolution and served as president of the National Constituent Assembly. However, he and his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont were among those who physically defended Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette from a mob besieging the Tuileries Palace in Paris during the insurrection of August 10, 1792. He was condemned to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror, but his execution was still pending when Robespierre fell on 9 Thermidor and he was spared. He married Françoise Robin 5 Vendémiaire an IV (27 September 1795). After his house was sacked by a mob in 1797 during the events of 18 Fructidor , he and his entire family left for the United States in 1799. They hoped (but failed) to found a model community of French exiles.

In the United States, he developed strong ties with industry and government, in particular with Thomas Jefferson. Pierre engaged in informal diplomacy between the United States and France during the reign of Napoleon. He was the originator of an idea that eventually became the Louisiana Purchase, as a way to avoid French troops from landing in New Orleans, and possible sparking armed conflict with U.S. forces.

Eventually, he would settle in the U.S. permanently where he died in 1817.

His son, Eleuthère Irénée, founded what would become one of the largest and most successful American corporations: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

External links

• DuPont Heritage