DUQUESNE, ABRAHAM, MARQUIS (1610-1688), French naval officer, was born at Dieppe in 161 o. He spent his youth in the merchant service, and captured the island of Lerins from the Spaniards in May 1637. About the same time his father was killed in an engagement with the Spaniards, and the news raised his hatred of the national enemy to the pitch of a personal and bitter animosity. He distinguished himself in the engagement at Guetaria (1638), the expedition to Corunna (1639) and in battles at Tarragona (1641), Barcelona (1643) and the Cabo de Gata. Serving as a volunteer in the Swedish service in 1643, he defeated the Danish fleet near Gothenburg and thus raised the siege of the city. The Danes returned to the struggle with increased forces under the command of King Christian in person, but they were again defeated—their admiral being killed and his ship taken. On the conclusion of peace between Sweden and Denmark in Duquesne returned to France. The revolt at Bordeaux, supported as it was by material aid from Spain, gave him the opportunity of at once serving his country and gratifying his long-cherished hatred of the Spaniards. In 165o he fitted out at his own expense a squad ron with which he blockaded the mouth of the Gironde, and com pelled the city to surrender. Peace with Spain was concluded in 1659, and Duquesne was then occupied in suppressing piracy in the Mediterranean. On the revolt of Messina from Spain, he was sent to support the insurgents, and encountered the united fleets of Spain and Holland under the command of de Ruyter. After several battles, in which the advantage was generally on the side of the French, a decisive engagement took place near Catania (April 20, 1676), when the Dutch fleet was totally routed and de Ruyter mortally wounded. The greater part of the defeated fleet was afterwards burned in the harbour of Palermo, where it had taken refuge, and the French thus secured the undisputed command of the Mediterranean. For this service Duquesne received a letter of thanks from Louis XIV., together with the title of marquis and the estate of Bouchet. His last achievements were the bombard ment of Algiers (168 2-83 ), to effect the deliverance of the Chris tian captives, and the bombardment of Genoa in 1684. He retired from service in 1684, on the ground of age and ill-health. It is probable also that he foresaw the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which took place in the following year. He died in Paris on Feb. 2, 1688.
See Jai, Abraham Duquesne, et la marine de son temps (1873) .