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'''General Étienne Maynard Bizefranc, comte de Lavaux''' (also: ''comte de Laveaux''; ''Maynard'' is sometimes spelled: ''Magneaud'' or ''Maynaud'') (August 8, 1751 Digoin, France -1828 Cormatin (Saône & Loire), France) was commander of the French forces under Commissioners [[Leger Félicité Sonthonax|Sonthonax]], et al. In October [[1793]] he became Governor-General of [[Saint-Domingue]] a post he held until 11 May [[1796]]. In [[1799] he was sent to Guadeloupe.

"A man who was not only a brave soldier, but possessed a disarmingly attractive personality and that quality known as charm.  He was unusually sensitive, a man who was to become one of the greatest friends that Toussaint would ever have..."  Proud and honorable, he refused a considerable bribe from [[John Whitelocke|Colonel Whitelocke]] with particular zest. ([[This Gilded African|Parkinson]], p. 74)  He spoke "perfect punctilious French." ([[This Gilded African|Parkinson]], p. 102)

"Laveaux felt a natural affinity towards the Negro; he had no sentimentality born of guilt, he just liked the black race." ([[This Gilded African|Parkinson]], p. 81)  He and [[Toussaint Louverture]] developed a close friendship.

The [[mulattos]], jealous of Toussaint's influence over Laveaux and humiliated by the Laveaux's exposure of [[Jean Baptiste Villatte]]'s corruption and disloyalty, plotted to remove the governor.  They seized him on March 20, [[1796]] and threw him in jail for five days before Toussaint effected his release.  [[This Gilded African|Parkinson]] writes that he was elderly at this point, but he would have been only 45; possibly he had a weak constitution as he was apparently quite shaken by the ordeal. ([[This Gilded African|Parkinson]], pp. 99-101)

Toussaint gently nudged him out of the country on the pretext of Laveaux's value as [[Saint-Domingue]]'s representative to the French Chamber of Deputies and to the Senate. ([[This Gilded African|Parkinson]], pp. 104-105) Markus Rainsford quotes Laveaux as having said about Toussaint: "''[Toussaint Louverture is] the negro, the Spartacus, foretold by Raynal, whose destiny it was to avenge the wrongs committed on his race."'' (Rainsford)

==See also==
* [[List of Rulers]]
* [[Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haytian Revolutions]] - 1841 speech by McCune Smith.

==References==
* Marcus Rainsford, (1805), ''An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti: Comprehending a View of the Principal Transactions in the Revolution of Saint-Domingo; with its Ancient and Modern State'', London,
* {{This Gilded African}}

[[Category:Who's Who|Laveaux, Comte de]]
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