Victor von Gibelin
Victor von Gibelin | |
|---|---|
| Chevalier | |
Victor von Gibelin, chalk drawing by Henri-Pierre Danloux, portrayed in Paris in 1791. | |
| Born | 24 January 1771 Solothurn, Switzerland |
| Died | 3 September 1853 (aged 82) Solothurn, Switzerland |
| Noble family | House of Gibelin |
| Father | Heinrich Daniel von Gibelin (1726–1783) |
| Mother | Maria Anna Ludovica von Gibelin, née von Roll |
Victor von Gibelin (1771–1853), also called Beau Gibelin because of his beauty, was a Swiss military officer in French service and a politician in his hometown of Solothurn in Switzerland. He was the last officer of the Swiss Guards under King Louis XVI.
Victor von Gibelin became famous for different reasons: His friendship with Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, a Swiss military officer in French service from Solothurn; the meeting with the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, on his escape from the French Revolution; and as one of the leading exponents of the anti-Helvetic resistance in the period between 1798 and 1802. However, he became famous beyond Switzerland's borders for his eyewitness report of the events surrounding the Storming of the Palais des Tuileries on 10 August 1792, where he narrowly escaped death. His report was published posthumously in German and in French in 1866.
"Come, let us see – the handsome Gibelin stands guard."
— Jakob Amiet (1817–1883), a contemporary saying about Victor von Gibelin at the court of Versailles