Who was Jean Baptist Colbert?

Question

was he famous or like what he do?

Answer 1

Jean Baptist-Colbert (August 29, 1619 – September 6, 1683) was the Minister of Finance under Louis XIV of France. He improved the state of French manufacturing and borught the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. He created several market reforms and issued more than 150 edicts to regulate the guilds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Colbert

Answer 2

Colbert, Jean Baptiste, 1619–83, French statesman.

The son of a draper, he was trained in business and was hired by Cardinal Mazarin to look after his financial affairs. On his deathbed, Mazarin recommended Colbert to King Louis XIV, who made him comptroller general of finances (1665).

As Louis XIV's minister, Colbert scaled down the public debt by repudiating some obligations and reducing the value of others and set up a system of accounts in order to keep the government within its income. His efforts to make taxes more equal had little success in the face of localism and tradition. Colbert's aim was to make France economically self-sufficient.

In 1669 he was made secretary of state for naval affairs. He constructed shipyards, arsenals, and harbors, among them Brest and Rochefort, and began the construction of a large navy as a first step in the development of commerce and colonization. Colbert contributed significantly to the splendor of Louis XIV's reign by patronizing the arts and sciences. He founded the Academy of Sciences and the Paris Observatory and promoted the French Academy.

Colbert was later ranked among the greatest of French statesmen.