Jacques Necker (1732–1804)

Jacques Necker was a wealthy Swiss financier who became Finance Minister to King Louis XVI of France in 1776. He married Suzanne Curchod, who became a famous Parisian salonnière; they were the parents of Anne-Louise-Germaine, Madame de Staël. Necker was dismissed from his post in 1781, then recalled in 1788, dismissed again in July 1789, and recalled again later that month. He finally resigned in 1790 and spent the rest of his life in retirement at his estate of Coppet near Geneva, which also became the refuge of Madame de Staël.