Jean-Joseph d'Apcher, or Jean-Joseph d'Apchier, was a French nobleman born June 3, 1745 in Charraix (France) who resigned from the nobility of Gévaudan during the election of the Constituent Assembly.
Son of Joseph de Randon and Henriette de La Rochefoucauld (sister of the Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld), he became Marquis d'Apchier, Count de Besque, Baron de La Garde, de Thoras, de Cenaret, Lord de La Clauze, de Saint-Préjet, de Verdun, de Clavière.
He was essentially known for his determination to free the country from the Beast of Gévaudan.
In 1765, at the age of twenty he gradually took the lead for the hunt of the Beast of Gévaudan. He also organized the battue on June 19, 1767 where Jean Chastel defeated the Beast.
He pursued his education in the military and became first lieutenant of the regiment of gendarmes of Luneville. Then he obtained by correspondence in the regular army, the rank of camp marshal.
On September 3, 1777 he married at Langeac, Henriette de Rochefort-d'Ally de la Tour Saint-Vidal.
In March 1789, Jean-Joseph d'Apchier was elected deputy of Gévaudan representing the nobility of Gévaudan at the Constituent Assembly. He resigned rapidly from his post, and it was his deputy and cousin, Alexandre Paul Guérin de Tournel de Joyeuse de Chateauneuf-Randon who replaced him.
He exiled to Barcelona after the French Revolution where he died on November 2, 1798.
Corrections & illustration, Patrick Berthelot.
