A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists/Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, Count d'

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Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, Count d', French statesman. B. Aug. 16, 1696. He was a lieutenant of the police in 1720, then Governor of Touraine and State-Councillor. In 1740 he became Governor of Paris, and in 1742 Minister of War. D'Argenson rendered great services to his country and to enlightenment, and D'Alembert and Diderot dedicated to him their famous Dictionnaire Encyclopedique (1751). Voltaire had been at school with him, and was an intimate friend throughout life. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Inscriptions. D. Aug. 22, 1764.