Pierre Daru
Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, Comte Daru (12 January 1767 – 5 September 1829) was a French soldier, statesman, historian, and poet.
Also recorded as Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, comte Daru · Pierre A.B. Daru
Pierre Daru

Antoine-Jean Gros · Public domain
- Name
- Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno
- Born
- 12 January 1767
- Died
- 5 September 1829
- Birthplace
- Montpellier, Languedoc, Kingdom of France
- Place of death
- Kingdom of France
- Nationality
- France
- Occupation
- linguist · politician · poet · diplomat · historian · translator · writer · military officer
- Fields
- French literature · diplomacy · Latin-language literature · history
- Honours
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour · Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis · list of names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe
- Languages
- French · Latin
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Documentary summary
Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, Comte Daru (12 January 1767 – 5 September 1829) was a French soldier, statesman, historian, and poet.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q715144 · wikipedia · Pierre Daru
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is French and Latin. The field of work recorded is French literature, diplomacy and Latin-language literature. Positions recorded include member of the French National Assembly and Pair of France. Distinctions recorded are Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis and list of names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe.

Pierre-Antoine-Noël-Mathieu Bruno, comte Daru (1767-1829).
Antoine-Jean Gros · Joconde database: entry 000PE008398
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno • Honorific Suffix — Comte de Daru • Office — Minister of War • Born — 12 January 1767 • Died — 5 September 1829 • Birthplace — Montpellier, Languedoc, Kingdom of France • Allegiance — First French Republic First French Empire • Branch — French Revolutionary Army French Imperial Army • Service Years — 1793 – 1814 • Predecessor — Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke • Successor — Pierre Dupont de l'Étang • Term — 20 November 1813 – 1 April 1814 • Place of death — Kingdom of France
Early career
Early career
Born in Montpellier, he was educated at the Oratorian-maintained military school of Tournon, and entered artillery service at an early age. He also took an interest in literature, and he published several minor pieces, until the outbreak of the French Revolution made him concentrate on his military assignments. In 1793 he became commissary to the army, protecting the coasts of Brittany from projected descents of the British, or of French Royalists. Thrown into prison during the Reign of Terror, on an unsubstantiated charge of friendliness to the Royalists and the British, he was released after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in the summer of 1794 (during the Thermidorian Reaction), and rose through the ranks until, in 1799, he became chief commissary to the French Revolutionary Army serving under André Masséna in the north of Switzerland. In that position he won repute for his organizing capacity, capacity of work and probity (the last of which qualities was contrasted with the wave of corruption). He did not however limit himself to his tasks, and found time, even during the campaign, to translate part of Horace and to compose two poems, the Poème des Alpes and the Chant de guerre – the latter was a condemnation of the murder of the French envoys to the Second Congress of Rastatt.
Consulate and early Empire
Consulate and early Empire
The accession of Napoleon Bonaparte to power in November 1799 (the "18 Brumaire coup") led to the employment of Daru as chief commissary to the Army of Reserve intended for Northern Italy, and commanded nominally by Louis Alexandre Berthier, but really by the First Consul. Conjointly with Berthier and Dejean, he signed the armistice with the Holy Roman Empire which closed the campaign in North Italy in June 1800. Daru now returned, for a time, mainly to civil life, and entered the tribunate of the French Consulate, where he supported the principles of democracy. On the renewal of war with Great Britain, in May 1803, he again resumed his duties as chief commissary for the army on the northern coasts. It was afterwards asserted that, on Napoleon's resolve to turn the army of Great Britain against the Habsburgs after the proclamation of the First French Empire, Daru had set down at the dictation all the details of the campaign which culminated in the battle of Ulm. The story is apocryphal, but Napoleon's confidence in him is shown by his being appointed to similar duties in La Grande Armée, which in the autumn of 1805 defeated the armies of the Austrian Empire and Russia. After the battle of Austerlitz, he took part in the drafting of the Treaty of Pressburg.
Prominence
Prominence
At this tune, too, he became intendant-general of the military household of Napoleon. In the campaigns of 1806–1807, Daru served, in his usual capacity, in the army which overthrew the forces of Russia and Prussia; and he had a share in drawing up the Treaty of Tilsit (7 July 1807). After this he supervised the administrative and financial duties in connection with the French army which occupied the principal fortresses of Prussia, and was one of the chief agents through whom Napoleon pressed hard on that land. At the Congress of Erfurt, Daru had the privilege of being present at the interview between Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Napoleon, and interposed tactful references to the works of the great poet. Daru fulfilled his usual duties in the campaign of 1809 against the Austrians. Afterwards, when the issue of Napoleon's divorce from Josephine Beauharnais and the choice of a Russian or of an Austrian princess came to be discussed, Daru, on being consulted by Napoleon, is said to have boldly counselled his marriage with a French lady, and that Napoleon, who admired his frankness and honesty, was not angered by the remark. Still in 1809, he was created a count of the Empire. In 1811 he became secretary of state in succession to Hugues-Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano, and showed his ability in the administration of the vast and complex affairs of the French Empire, including the arrangements connected with the civil list and the imperial domains. His competent administration was contrasted with the military disasters leading to the fall of the Empire. Late in 1813, he took up the portfolio of military affairs. After the first abdication of Napoleon in 1814, Daru retired into private life, but aided Napoleon during his return (the Hundred Days). After the Second Bourbon Restoration, he became a member of the Chamber of Peers, in which he again defended the cause of democracy against the attacks of the Ultra-royalists. He died in Meulan. His son who inherited the title is Napoléon Daru, brother of Viscount Paul Daru. Pierre Daru often appears in the autobiographical works of Stendhal, of whom he was a cousin.
Works
Works
Besides his translation of Horace, Daru was the author of: • Histoire de la République de Venise (in 7 vols, Paris, 1819) • Histoire de Bretagne, (3 vols, Paris, 1826) • Discours en vers sur les facultés de l'homme (Paris, 1825) • Astronomie (a didactic poem in six cantos; Paris, 1820)
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, comte Daru and Pierre A.B. His recorded languages were French and Latin. He was the child of Noël Daru. He married Alexandrine Daru. One child is recorded: Napoléon, comte Daru. Other recorded relations include Georges de Salverte.
Career and activity
Career and activity
Pierre Daru worked in French literature, diplomacy, Latin-language literature, history and politics. Recorded positions include member of the French National Assembly, Pair of France and seat 7 of the Académie française. He belonged to Académie Française, French Academy of Sciences, Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences and Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony.
Identity
Identity
Pierre Daru is recorded as having received Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis and list of names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe. Recognition and collections. Daru received Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis and list of names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1767
Pierre Daru born at Montpellier.
1829
Pierre Daru died at Meulan-en-Yvelines.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Montpellier.
Birth place
Meulan-en-Yvelines.
Death place
Legacy
Several elements of Napoleon III's Louvre expansion bear Daru's name, including the Louvre's most monumental staircase and several exhibition rooms (escalier Daru, galerie Daru, salle Daru).
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Pierre Daru and the Professionalization of the French Bureaucracy during the French Revolution
Scholarly · Crossref registry
- Pierre Daru et la vision historique et politique du passé vénitien au XIXe siècle en France, Le mythe de Venise au XIXe siècle, 2006
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2006
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q715144: Pierre Daru
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Pierre Daru”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
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References
Citations
References
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scholarly publication
Pierre Daru and the Professionalization of the French Bureaucracy during the French RevolutionCrossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
Pierre Daru et la vision historique et politique du passé vénitien au XIXe siècle en France, Le mythe de Venise au XIXe siècle, 2006Crossref registry
Verifiedauthority file
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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