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{{Short description|French soldier and diplomat (1774–1833) }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Anne Jean Marie René Savary
| birth_date    = 26 April 1774
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1833|6|2|1774|4|26}}
| image         = Robert Lefevre 15.jpg
| caption       = Portrait by [[Robert Lefèvre]], 1814
| nickname      = 
| birth_place   = [[Marcq, Ardennes|Marcq]]
| death_place   = Paris
| allegiance    = France
| branch        = 
| serviceyears  = 
| rank          = [[General de division]]
| unit          = 
| commands      = [[Gendarmes d'élite de la Garde Impériale]]
| battles       = [[French Revolutionary Wars]]<br />[[Napoleonic Wars]]{{ubl|{{*}}[[Battle of Ostrołęka (1807)]]}}[[French conquest of Algeria]]
| awards        = 
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
| signature     = Signatur Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, duc de Rovigo.PNG
}}

'''Anne Jean Marie René Savary, 1st duc de Rovigo''' (26 April 1774{{snd}}2 June 1833) was a French military officer and [[diplomat]] who served in the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[French invasion of Algeria]]. He was [[Minister of Police (France)|Minister of Police]] between 1810 and 1814.

==Early life and career==
Savary was born in [[Marcq, Ardennes|Marcq]], [[Ardennes]]. He was educated at the college of St Louis in [[Metz]] and joined the royal army in 1790. His first military campaign was in 1792, under [[Adam Philippe, comte de Custine|General Custine]], against the retreating forces led by the [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Duke of Brunswick]]. He subsequently served under [[Charles Pichegru|Pichegru]] and [[Jean Victor Marie Moreau|Moreau]] and distinguished himself during Moreau's strategic retreat from [[Swabia]]. In 1797, he was appointed [[chef d'escadron]] and participated in the [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|Egyptian campaign]] under General [[Louis Desaix]]. He published an account of this campaign in his memoirs.{{sfn|Rose|1911}}

Savary fought in the Battle of [[Battle of Marengo|Marengo]] on 14 June 1800, where he served alongside Desaix. Following Desaix's death in battle, Savary caught the attention of the [[First Consul]] [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]], and he was appointed commander of the [[Elite Gendarmes of the Imperial Guard|Elite Gendarmes of the Consular Guard]]. Savary played a role in uncovering the details of the [[Georges Cadoudal]]–[[Jean-Charles Pichegru|Pichegru]] [[Pichegru Conspiracy|conspiracy]] in 1804. He ventured to the cliffs of Biville in [[Normandy]], a landing spot for the conspirators, and attempted to lure the Comte d'Artois (later known as [[Charles X of France|Charles X]]) to land by mimicking signals used by the royalist plotters. However, his efforts were unsuccessful.{{sfn|Rose|1911}}

During his tenure as commanding officer at [[Château de Vincennes|Vincennes]], Savary became embroiled in controversy due to the summary execution of the [[Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien|Duc d'Enghien]]. [[Pierre-Augustin Hulin|Hulin]], the presiding officer at the court-martial, later accused Savary of obstructing his attempts to appeal for mercy to Bonaparte. According to Hulin, Savary intervened when Hulin was drafting the appeal. Although Savary denied these allegations, his denial has not been widely accepted by historians.{{sfn|Rose|1911}}

==Napoleonic Wars==

In February 1805, Savary was promoted to general of division. Shortly before the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] on 2 December 1805, Napoleon dispatched him with a message to emperor [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]], requesting an armistice. This maneuver only motivated the Russian monarch to strike a decisive blow, leading to disaster for the Russians. After the battle, Savary once again conveyed a message to Alexander, persuading him to negotiate a truce.

During the 1806 campaign, Savary boldly pursued the [[Prussia]]ns after the [[Battle of Jena]]. He also negotiated during the ''[[Siege of Hameln]]''. At the beginning of the following year, he assumed command of a corps and achieved a victory at [[Battle of Ostrołęka (1807)|Ostrolenka]] on 16 February 1807.{{sfn|Rose|1911}}

[[File:Heraldic achievement of Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, Duke of Rovigo.jpg|thumb|Heraldic achievement of Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, ''duc de Rovigo'']]
After the [[Treaty of Tilsit]] was signed on 7 July 1807, Savary traveled to [[St Petersburg|St. Petersburg]] as the French ambassador. He was soon replaced by [[Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt, duc de Vicence|General Caulaincourt]], another individual involved in the execution of the duc d'Enghien. It is said that the empress dowager's aversion to Savary played a role in his recall. It is thought more likely that Napoleon required his scheming abilities for his Spanish campaign towards the end of 1807. Honoured with the title of Duke of Rovigo (''duc de Rovigo''), named after a small town in Venetia, Savary departed for [[Madrid]] when Napoleon's plans for exerting control over Spain were nearing completion. Working alongside [[Joachim Murat|Murat]], Savary exploited the divisions within the Spanish royal family in March and April of 1808. He convinced [[Charles IV of Spain]], who had recently surrendered under duress, and his son [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]], the ''de facto'' king of Spain, to submit their claims to Napoleon. Savary persuaded Ferdinand to cross the [[Pyrenees]] and proceed to Bayonne, a decision that cost Ferdinand his crown and his freedom until 1814.{{sfn|Rose|1911}}

In September 1808, Savary accompanied the emperor to the meeting at the [[Congress of Erfurt]] with Alexander I, and in 1809 he participated in the campaign against [[Austrian Empire|Austria]].

Following Fouché's disgrace in the spring of 1810, Savary became [[Minister of Police (France)|Minister of Police]]. He transformed the office into an inquisition, in contrast to the leniency under the [[Jacobins|Jacobin]] Fouché. Notable incidents during his tenure included carrying out Napoleon's order to exile [[Anne Louise Germaine de Staël|Madame de Staël]] and destroy her work ''[[On Germany|De l'Allemagne]]''. However, Savary's vigilance failed him during the peculiar conspiracy of General [[Claude François de Malet|Malet]]. Two of Malet's accomplices apprehended Savary in his sleep, briefly imprisoning him for a few hours on 23 October 1812. This event brought ridicule upon Savary, tarnishing his reputation.{{sfn|Rose|1911}} As a token of appreciation, Napoleon granted him [[Duché grand fief|duché grand-fief]] of Rovigo within his Kingdom of Italy, a rare hereditary honor,{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} which ceased to exist in 1872.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/napoleon.htm|title=Napoleonic Titles and Heraldry|website=www.heraldica.org|accessdate=6 December 2023}}</ref>

==Hundred days, imprisonment, in exile and a final command in Algeria==

Savary was among the last to desert Napoleon following his abdication on 11 April 1814, and among the first to welcome his return from [[Elba]] in 1815 during the [[Hundred Days|hundred days]]. During this period, Savary was inspector-general of the gendarmerie and a [[Peerage of France|peer of France]]. Following the [[Battle of Waterloo]], he accompanied Napoleon to Rochefort and sailed with him to [[Plymouth]] aboard [[HMS Bellerophon (1786)|HMS ''Bellerophon'']]. Savary was not allowed to accompany Napoleon to [[Saint Helena]], but was interned for several months in [[Malta]]. After escaping, he traveled to [[Smyrna]] where he settled for a while, before eventually being allowed to return to France. Later, he settled in [[Rome]].{{sfn|Rose|1911}} 

In 1830, Savary came back into favour following the [[July Revolution]], and in 1831, assumed command of the French army in [[Algeria]].{{sfn|Rose|1911}} In Algiers, he antagonized French civil authorities with his authoritarian treatment of Arabs with disregard for Algerians’ religious beliefs. In spite of protests, the [[Ketchaoua Mosque]] was confiscated in December 1831 and consecrated as the cathedral of Saint Philippe on Christmas Day, 1832.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=McDougall |first=James |title=A History of Algeria |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-02923-0 |edition=1 |location=Cambridge |pages=55}}</ref>

He was also responsible for the [[Massacre of El Ouffia|massacre of the local El Ouffia tribe]] alongside [[Maximilien Joseph Schauenburg]] and the deaths of several Arab leaders whom he lured into negotiations.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44986065|title=Propriété foncière, libéralisme économique et gouvernement colonial: Alger, 1830–1840|author=Dumasy, François|year=2016|journal=Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (1954–)|volume=63|issue=2|page=58|jstor=44986065 }}</ref>

While he was not the first military governor of French possessions in Algeria he was the one who introduced extreme violence into the occupation and pacification of Algiers on a scale not seen before him.<ref name=":0" /> 

== Personal life ==
[[Zoé Talon du Cayla|Comtesse du Cayla]] was said to be a mistress of Savary<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turquan |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E3hNDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22comtesse+du+cayla%22+savary%22+maitresse&pg=PT93 |title=Les Favorites de Louis XVIII |publisher=Frédérique PATAT |isbn=978-2-37324-059-7 |language=fr}}</ref> and to have even born him a son.

His failing health meant that he returned to France, where he died in Paris in June 1833.{{sfn|Rose|1911}}

==See also==
* [[Massacre of El Ouffia]]
* [[Maximilien Joseph Schauenburg]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{EB1911 |last=Rose |first=John Holland |authorlink=John Holland Rose |wstitle=Savary, Anne Jean Marie René |volume=24 |page=241}} This work in turn cites:
** ''Mémoires du duc de Rovigo'' (4 vols., London, 1828; English edition also in 4 vols., London, 1828); a French edition annotated by D. Lacroix (5 vols., Paris, 1900)
** ''Extrait des mémoires de M. le duc de Rovigo concernant le catastrophe de M. le duc d'Enghien'' (London, 1823)
** ''Le Duc de Rovigo jugée par lui-même et par ses contemporains'', by L.F.E. (Paris, 1823)
** A.F.N. Macquart, ''Refutation de l'écrit de M. le duc de Rovigo'' (1823).

==External links==
{{NIE Poster|Savary, Anne Jean Marie René|Anne Jean Marie René Savary}}
* {{Commonscatinline}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=9086| name=Rovigo Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Anne Jean Marie René Savary}}

{{First cabinet of Napoleon}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savary, Anne Jean Marie Rene}}
[[Category:1774 births]]
[[Category:1833 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French diplomats]]
[[Category:Algerian genocide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of France to the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Dukes of the First French Empire]]
[[Category:French generals]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:French police chiefs]]
[[Category:Peers of France]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days]]
[[Category:Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe]]