Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay

Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay
Marquis of Launay
Presumed portrait of de Launay
BornBernard-René Jourdan
8/(1740-04-09)9 April 1740
Bastille, Paris
Died14 July 1789(1789-07-14) (aged 49)
Place de Greve, Paris
SpousesUrsule Philippe
Geneviève Thérèse Le Boursier
Issue
  • Adrienne Renée Ursule
  • Catherine Geneviève
    Charlotte Gabrielle Ursule
FatherRené Jourdan de Launay
MotherCharlotte Renée Aubry d'Armanville
Governor of the Bastille
In post
October 1776 – 14 July 1789
Preceded byAntoine-Joseph de Jumilhac
Succeeded byPosition abolished during French Revolution
  • Prosper Soulès
    Provisional Governor of the Bastille

Bernard René Jourdan, marquis de Launay (8/9 April 1740 – 14 July 1789) was a French Royal Army officer who served as the governor of the Bastille. He was the son of a previous governor, and commander of the Bastille's garrison when it was stormed on 14 July 1789. De Launay was removed from the Bastille and murdered by an angry mob in the streets of Paris. Following his death, de Launay's head was affixed on a pike and paraded through the city.