Chronologie

Véronique Goncerut, curator

Bibliothèque de Genève

 

For a general biography of Jean-Gabriel Eynard, see:
Gérard Duc, Jean-Gabriel Eynard (1775-1863) : Un diplomate et financier genevois au temps des révolutions (2012). 

In italics: events concerning Anna Eynard-Lullin.

 

1775 (28 December)

Birth of Jean-Gabriel Eynard in Lyon.

He will eventually learn the rudiments of commercial and financial business in Lyon, and be part of the social life of the wealthy business class there.

1789

French Revolution.

1792

The start of revolutionary unrest and turmoil in Lyon.

1793 (26 May)

Birth of Anna Lullin de Châteauvieux, in Lancy (France), the daughter of Michel Lullin de Châteauvieux and Amélie Christine Pictet.

Childhood in Paris.

1793 (late in the year)

Flees from Lyon to Geneva.

1794

Eynard family now settled near Rolle, Switzerland.

1795 (September)

Jean-Gabriel Eynard settles in Genoa.

1796 (October)

Arrival of his brother Jacques Eynard in Genoa.

1797 (1 May)

Founding of “Frères Eynard et Schmidt,” a trading business specialized in tanned hides, almonds from Provence, cloth, cochineal, etc.

1798 (15 April)

The Republic of Geneva annexed by the French Republic.

1800

Victualer, or provisioner, of Napoleon’s Army of Italy.

1801

His brother Jacques Eynard returns to Switzerland.

 

1801 (September)

Sole subscriber of a bond issued by the King of Tuscany, Louis I of Etruria. His first major financial success, establishing both his fortune and his reputation as a banker.

 

1802

Death of Anna Lullin de Châteauvieux’s father in Santo Domingo.

 

1802 (1 June)

Initiation into freemasonry at the Lodge of Livorno (the Grand Orient of France).

1803

He takes up residence in Florence near Maria Luisa of Spain, the queen regent of Etruria, whom he serves as adviser.

1803

Named to the position of Farmer General of Tobacco (chief collector of taxes on tobacco) of the Kingdom of Etruria.

1804 (December)

Attends the coronation of Napoleon I in Paris.

1807

Administrator of the Principality of Lucca and Piombino at the behest of Elisa Baciocchi, sister of Napoleon I, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Princess of Lucca and Piombino.

Acquires the largest part of the saltworks in Hyères and founds the Compagnie Eynard.

Mother and family of Anna Lullin de Châteauvieux return to Geneva.

1808

Made a bourgeois of Rolle (Canton of Vaud), a title that confers on the recipient full political rights.

1808 (27 July)

Purchases with his brother Jacques Eynard a country estate, La Campagne de Beaulieu, in Gilly, near Rolle.

1809 (March)

In Paris. Meets with Napoleon I as the representative of both the Département de la Méditerranée and the Chamber of Commerce of Livorno.

In the French capital he also studies chemistry in the laboratory of Professor Louis Jacques Thénard (Collège de France) which will serve him in managing his alum mines and ironworks.

1810

Jean-Gabriel Eynard returns to Switzerland.

1810 (February)

Meets Anna Lullin de Châteauvieux at a ball.

1810 (2 October)

Marries Anna Lullin de Châteauvieux in the local church of Crans (Vaud).

1810 (starting in October)

The newly married couple takes up residence in the Maison Mallet on Cour Saint-Pierre in Geneva.

Anna Eynard-Lullin has a stage built inside their home.

1810 – 1811 (winter)

The couple leaves for Paris.

1811 (February)

Miscarriage of Anna Eynard-Lullin, followed by a long convalescence. She is unable to bear children.

1811 (autumn) – 1813

Work done to expand Beaulieu.

1813 (31 December)

Restauration of the Republic of Geneva (end of the French occupation of the city under Napoleon).

1814

Named lieutenant-colonel of the cavalry corps of the Genevan militia.

1814 (starting in April)

Member of the Sovereign Council of Geneva and appointed Private Secretary of Charles Pictet de Rochemont and François d’Ivernois, representatives of the Genevan mission at the Treaty of Paris in 1814 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

1814 (September) – 1815 (October)

Attends the Congress of Vienna as the Private Secretary of Charles Pictet de Rochemont and François d’Ivernois, representatives of the Genevan mission. Second Congress of Paris.

Anna Eynard-Lullin accompanies her husband to the different cities hosting these conferences and takes an active part in the social life on the margins of the negotiations.

1815 (starting in)

Meets Jean Capodistrias (1776-1831), the start of his interest in the cause of Greek independence.

The Eynards begin planning for the construction of the Palais Eynard in Geneva.

1816

Summoned to restore the finances of Ferdinand III, Grand-Duke of Tuscany.

Named Knight of the Order of Saint Joseph by the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand III.

Anna Eynard-Lullin accompanies her husband to Florence, Italy. They will stay there until October.

1817 (starting in)

First becomes a member of what will be a series of learned societies in Geneva, viz., the Société des Arts, the Society of Public Welfare, the Society of History and Archeology of Geneva (founded in 1838).

Anna Eynard-Lullin funds soupes économiques (a soup kitchen) over the winter in the Commune of Gilly.

1817 – 1821

Construction of the Palais Eynard in Geneva.

Anna Eynard-Lullin is actively involved in architectural choices and the execution of the design.

1818

Founding member of the Reading Society of Geneva.

1818 (autumn)

Takes part in the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle.

Anna accompanies her husband to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle.

1819

Construction of a service wing for the Beaulieu residence.

1820 (7 April)

Adoption of Sophie (1817-1887).

1820 (November)

The Eynards are in Florence.

1821

Anna Eynard-Lullin opens a “school for mutual instruction” in a room especially built for that purpose in Gilly.

1821 (March)

Beginning of the insurrection in Greece, which Jean-Gabriel Eynard enthusiastically supports.

Anna Eynard-Lullin also becomes a fervent supporter of Greek independence.

1821 (7 May)

The Eynard family settles in the Palais Eynard, Geneva.

1821 (November)

Founding of the first Committee for the Support of Greece (Genevan philhellenism).

1822 – 1827

Jean Capodistrias is a frequent guest at the Eynards’.

1824 (starting in)

Correspondence with the leaders of the Greek War of Independence and philhellenes of all countries.

1825 (spring)

The Eynards are in Florence.

1825 (14 September)

Prime mover of the meeting to found a second support committee for the Greek cause, the Committee of Geneva, and organizing a subscription in favor of Greece (also known as the “Committee for the Greeks”).

1825 – 1826

Member of and participation in numerous Swiss and European support committees for the Greek cause (Paris, Berlin, Munich, Dresden, etc.).

Construction of “Petit Fleur d’Eau,” a house in Rolle, Switzerland.

1827

Expansion of Beaulieu and addition of a new façade on the side facing the lake.

1827 (late May – July)

The Eynards are in London.

1830 (January)

The death of her mother, Amélie Lullin, deeply affects Anna Eynard-Lullin, seriously compromising her health.

1830 (February)

Attends the London Conference convened to reach an agreement on Greek independence.

1830 (July)

Having fallen ill with the death of her mother, Anna Eynard-Lullin leaves to convalesce in the Basses-Pyrénées (the extreme southwest of France).

1830 (September) – 1831 (May)

The Eynards are in Paris, then Rome and Florence until May 1831.

1832

The Eynards are in Paris

Anna Eynard-Lullin falls ill from cholera in Paris.

1833

Construction of “Fleuri” in Rolle, Switzerland, a house for Gabriel-Alfred Eynard, Eynard’s nephew and godson (his brother Jacques Eynard’s elder son), who settles there with his family in 1840.

1833 (15 May)

Marriage of their adopted daughter, Sophie Eynard, with Jean-Gabriel’s nephew Charles Eynard (Jacques Eynard’s second son).

1836

Construction of “Grand Fleur d’Eau,” a house in Rolle, Switzerland, for his adopted daughter, Sophie Eynard, and his nephew Charles Eynard.

1837

Rents an apartment on Place Vendôme in Paris and later purchases a town house on Rue de Londres.

1837 (30 June)

Accorded a private audience with the King of France, Louis Philippe I.

1837 (July)

Named Knight of the Royal Order of the Legion of Honor by Louis Philippe I.

1837 – 1838

Initiatives in favor of Greece in Paris.

1839 – 1840

Construction of a nursery school in Gilly and funds provided for a salaried teacher.

1839 (7 January)

Presentation of the daguerreotype before the Académie des Sciences, Paris.

1839 (28 April – 16 July)

Follows political developments in France from Paris, where the couple is staying.

1839 (6 July)

Louis Daguerre mounts a show featuring several daguerreotypes “in one of the rooms of the chamber of deputies” (sitting room of the Palais Bourbon), before the vote by the French national government on the law authorizing the acquisition of the brand-new process in exchange for an annual pension of 6 000 francs. Jean-Gabriel Eynard is in Paris at this time.

"Paris, 6 July … A fairly large number of deputies met in the chamber to see this curious exhibition over which M. Daguerre himself presided. Several had thought M. Daguerre was to make a few trials of his process before them. But the wise artist remarked that to apply his process before numerous witnesses would be to hand over his secret to the public, and it is fitting that he keep this secret until the law granting him the pension meant to recompense him for his fine invention be voted by the two chambers and sanctioned by the king” (Nouvelliste vaudois, 12.07.1839).

The vote was taken on 9 July in the Chamber of Deputies without prior debate and the law was adopted, 237 ballots for and 3 against. On 17 July the Chamber of Peers began a similar procedure, with Gay-Lussac heading the review commission. The final vote, for form’s sake, took place on 30 July and ratified the deputies’ decision.[1]

1839 (16 July)

Writes to his brother, Jacques Eynard, that he thinks he will be leaving Paris “next Monday,” that is, 22 July 1839.

1839 (19 August)

François Arago presents the details of the daguerreotype technique to a joint session of the Académie des sciences and the Académie des beaux-arts in Paris.

1839 (10 September)

The Eynards are in Rome.

1840 – 1855

Jean-Gabriel Eynard enthusiastically embraces the new invention, the daguerreotype, and takes many daguerreotypes of his family, entourage, friends, and various personalities, as well as nature, genre scenes, houses, and travels.

1840 (7 March – 23 June)

The Eynards are in Rome “putting up at the Piazza di Spagna.”

1840 (7 March, 2 April)

In two letters to his brother, Jacques, he mentions his work in photography and touches on the technical problems he is running into. He takes daguerreotypes of a number of subjects, including the Trevi Fountain, the Arch of Titus, Trajan’s Forum, portraits, etc. In June, he writes that the heat is not favorable to the “dag.”

1841 (starting in)

The Eynards divide their time between Geneva and Paris (letters from Paris, 25 January and 14 February 1841).

1841

The Eynards are in Paris from January to February and from November to December.

Cofounder of the National Bank of Greece.

Construction of “Vieux Fleur d’Eau,” another house in Rolle, Switzerland.

1842

The Eynards are in Paris from January to June and in December.

1842 (18 June)

Takes daguerreotypes of Louis-Philippe I and his family in Neuilly (BGE Ms. suppl. 1874, f. 622-627).

1842 (21 June)

Upon his departure from Paris, Jean-Gabriel Eynard mentions the devices he has for taking daguerreotypes, writing, “…I have five machines with all their paraphernalia, I shall have to leave three at least here because I shan’t have the room in the carriage…” (BGE Ms. suppl. 1874, f. 626).

1843

The Eynards are in Paris from January to March and in November.

1844

The Eynards are in Paris in June.

1845

The Eynards are in Paris from April to June.

1846

The Eynards are in Paris in April.

1847

Gradual withdraw from public life.

The Eynards are in Paris from June to July.

1848

Return to Switzerland for good after Paris.

1850

Anna Eynard-Lullin pays for one of the public fountains of the Commune of Gilly to be covered over to make clothes washing an easier task.

1851 (starting in)

Growing interest in the Protestant faith under the influence of his wife.

1851 – 1852

Begins taking stereoscopic daguerreotypes.

1854 (autumn) – 1857 (January)

The Italian artist Antonio Fontanesi is commissioned by Jean-Gabriel Eynard to do 20 lithographic views representing the Eynards’ Beaulieu property in Rolle.

1859

Anna Eynard-Lullin has a house built (a “maison des pauvres,” or charity house) in Gilly, which offers:

• an “oeconomic laundry” or “wash house in the English style” (there is a charge for use, according to one’s income, and it is free for the poorest)
• a home for the elderly
• a room to “offer lessons in industry and other useful things to local youths”

1863

The Eynards have the Palais de l’Athénée built in Geneva and donate the space to the Société des Arts.

1863 (5 February)

Jean-Gabriel Eynard dies in Geneva and is buried in the Cimetière des Rois.

1863 – 1868

Development of Anna Eynard-Lullin’s philanthropic activities in Rolle and Geneva, opening a convalescent home for young ladies, a nursing home, schools.

• Honorary associate of the Society Established in Geneva for the Advancement of the Arts
• Patroness of the Horticultural Society of Geneva

1865

                Donates the Gilly “maison des pauvres” to the commune.

1868 (30 October)

Anna Eynard-Lullin dies in Geneva and is buried in the Cimetière des Rois.

1891

Sale of the Palais Eynard to the City of Geneva by Eynard’s descendents.