Charles-François Delacroix (Givry-en-Argonne 1741-Bordeaux 1805) was a secretary to Turgot, a deputy to the National Convention and a French Minister of Foreign Affairs between 3 November, 1795 and 15 July 1797. In 1799, he became the first prefect in the Bouches-du-Rhône and in 1803 in the Gironde. [1]
Delacroix interrogated George Danton, who was accused in 1793 in Belgium. He is supposed to be the father of the painter Eugène Delacroix, but the wagging tongues of Paris had it that the unfortunate ex-minister had been succeeded in his bed by the man who had succeeded him at his desk, Maurice de Talleyrand.
On 13 September 1797, the surgeon Imbert-Delonnes removed a "monstrous tumor" of twenty-eight pounds, in which were tangled "the most delecate masculine organs", a tumor that apparently rendered him impotent.[2] What ever the truth, it seems certain that Charles was sent away to the Hague to avoid the gossip (...).[3]
On 2 December, 1797 he became a special envoy (ambassador) to the Batavian Republic and in January 1798 he advised Herman Willem Daendels in his coup d'état against a group of federalists in the Dutch National Convention. Pieter Vreede and Wybo Fijnje came to power on 25 January 1798. They were dissatisfied with the conservative-moderate majority in the parliament, which tried to prevent a centralistic constitution.