author
Pierre Clément
1809–1870
A 19th-century French historian and economist, he is best remembered for meticulous archival work on French public finance and on Jean-Baptiste Colbert. His books helped turn dense state records into readable history.
1 Audiobook
Histoire de la vie et de l'administration de Colbert
by Pierre Clément
About the author
Born in Draguignan in 1809 and later active in Paris, Pierre Clément — often listed as Jean-Pierre Clément — was a French historian, economist, and librarian. He worked in the Ministry of Finance and became known for serious research grounded in original documents rather than secondhand retellings.
Much of his writing focused on the administration and finances of early modern France, especially the age of Colbert. He published major studies and documentary collections, including work on Colbert's correspondence, and also wrote on figures and institutions from French political and cultural history.
Clément's reputation rested on patient archival scholarship and a talent for making administrative history useful to later readers. He died in Paris in 1870, leaving behind a body of work valued by historians, librarians, and readers interested in how government, money, and power shaped France's past.