BIRON, Armand Louis, Duc de (1747-1793). Known under the name of Lauzun. He took part in the American War of Independence. In 1792 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the Rhine. Accused of treason by the Committee of Public Safety and tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal, he was condemned to death and executed.
BIRON-COURLANDE, Princess Antoinette de (1813-1881). Married the Comte de Lazareff, a Russian colonel.
BJOERNSTERNA, Magnus Frederick Ferdinand. After the Battle of Eckmühl he was sent on a mission to Napoleon I. He was afterwards Minister-Plenipotentiary at London.
BLACAS, Pierre Louis Jean, Duc de (1770-1839). Attached himself to the person of Louis XVIII. during his exile, and at the Restoration was made Minister of the King's Household. He became a member of the House of Peers, and was sent to Naples to negotiate the marriage of the Duc de Berry with the Princess Caroline, and to Rome to conclude a concordat which never came into operation.
BOIGNE, Comtesse de (1780-1866). Adèle d'Osmond married the Comte de Boigne in 1798 during the Emigration. The Comte, after an adventurous life, had returned from India with a large fortune. From 1814 to 1859 Madame de Boigne's salon was one of the most important in aristocratic, diplomatic, and political circles in Paris. The Duc Pasquier was its most regular habitué.
BOISMILON, Jacques Dominique de (1795-1871). A French teacher who was made Secretary to the Duc d'Orléans. He was afterwards attached to the Comte de Paris, and was promoted Officer of the Legion of Honour in 1845.
BOISSY, Mlle. Rouillé de. Sister of the Marquis de Boissy, Peer of France. She married Comte Pierre d'Aubusson, who became insane and died in 1842. She herself died in 1855.
BOLIVAR, Simon (1783-1830). The Liberator of America. He freed Venezuela and New Granada, which he united in a single Republic under the name of Columbia.
BONAPARTE, General. See [NAPOLEON].
BONAPARTE, Jerome (1784-1860). King of Westphalia. The youngest brother of Napoleon I. In his youth he had married a Miss Paterson, whom the Emperor forced him to divorce in order that he might marry Princess Catherine of Würtemberg.