Antoine Lefèbvre de La Barre, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetAntoine Lefèbvre de La Barre
Governor of New France
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Valois, Hauts-de-France, France
About Antoine Lefèbvre de La Barre
- Joseph-Antoine le Fèbvre, sieur de La Barre (or Antoine Lefebvre, Antoine Lefèvre; 1622–1688) was a French lawyer and administrator best known for his disastrous three years term as governor of the colony of New France (Quebec). As a young man he served in the administration in France.
- He then became governor of Cayenne (French Guiana) in 1664 after it was recovered from the Dutch.
- After handing Cayenne over to his brother, he served briefly as lieutenant-general of the French West Indies colonies, then for many years was a naval captain.
- In two engagements he was accused of cowardice, but in others he served with distinction.
- At the age of 60 he was appointed Governor of New France, holding office from 1682 to 1685.
- He spent much of his energy in trading ventures, using his position as governor to attack his great rival René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle.
- He began a war with the Iroquois, the main power in the region, and led a poorly equipped expedition against them that ran into difficulty.
- He was forced to agree to a disadvantageous peace treaty that was condemned by France's Indian allies, the colonists and the French court.
- He was recalled as a result and spent his last few years as a wealthy man in Paris.
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