A. de (Alcide) Beauchesne

Born in Lorient and active in nineteenth-century France, Alcide-Hyacinthe du Bois de Beauchesne is described in French reference sources as a historian and poet. He served in royal and cultural administration, including work connected with the fine arts and later the French National Archives, which helps explain the documentary tone of his historical writing.

He became especially known for books on figures of the French monarchy, including works on Louis XVII and Madame Élisabeth. Local and encyclopedic sources also note that he was twice honored by the Académie française, reflecting the recognition his historical writing received in his own time.

Some catalogs list him as born in 1804, while other reference sources give 1800. Because the records are inconsistent, it is safest to say that he lived in the first three quarters of the nineteenth century and died in 1873.