EON DE BEAUMONT, a-Oti cle Charles Genevieve Lou's Auguste Andre Thnothere d' (called till 1777, CHEVALIER D'EoN), French writer, military officer, diplomatist and publicist: b. Tonnerre, 5 Oct. 1728; d. London, 21 May 1810. His brilliant qualities enabled him to act a conspicuous part in the world, but he gained a greater notoriety by the mystery long kept up in regard to his sex. In 1755, by some other accounts m 1757, he was sent as envoy on a difficult mission. to the Russian court. Here he gained the favor of the Empress Elizabeth, and for about five years was the medium of a secret correspondence between her and the King of France. In 1762 he went to London as sec retary of a special legation, under the DuIce de Niverrsais, sent there for the purpose of arrang ing peace between France and England. In April 1763 he was made French Resident Minister and chargee d'affaires. From then on, though soon officially superseded in his diplo matic office, he lived for years in London as a kind of informal representative of his sovereign. In 1777 he returned to France, but Louis XVI, for what reason has never been satisfactorily explained, imposed on him the obligation of assuming female attire and he now styled him self La Chevaliere d'Eon. Even before this, however, doubts and discussions as to his real sex had arisen. He returned to England in 1785.
After the French Revolution broke out, he styled himself Citoyenne Genevieve Deon. He now attempted to support himself by giving lessons in fencing (still dressed as a woman), but was not-very successful and depended for subsistence mainly on his friends. He was a voluminous writer and his worlcs appeared in 1775 under the title