Jean - Frédéric Phélypeaux , Count of Maurepas Jean - Frédéric Phélypeaux , comte de Maurepas ( 9 July 1701 – 21 November 1781 ) was a French statesman . He was born at Versailles , of a family of administrative nobility , the son of Jérôme Phélypeaux , secretary of state for the marine and the royal household . Under the guidance of his father , his grandfather and his cousin Louis Phélypeaux , marquis de La Vrillière , Jean - Frederic was trained from childhood to be secretary of state to the king of France . Jean - Frederic had right en survivance to the position of secretary of state , under Philippe II , as his father Jerome had purchased the office with the right of inheritance . In 1718 at the age of 17 , Jean became the minister of the royal household and Comte de Maurepas under the guardianship of his cousin La Vrilliere . Shortly after he married the daughter of his cousin , Marie - Jeanne . Five years later on the 16th of August he began his duties as ministre de la marine to Louis XV administering the navy , colonies and seaborne trade . In 1738 he was promoted to the council of state , and in time aided the king , alongside several other ministers in making significant political decisions . Jean continued his administrative career after the death of his guardian , and was ministre de la marine until April 23 , 1749 , when he was removed in a coup . Skilled in military and naval strategy , Maurepas enabled the French navy to regain previously lost prestige and France was once again recognized as a maritime power . One way that he improved the French reputation was by focusing on the defense of France ' s sprawling empire in the New World , especially in the 1730s and 1740s . His defense plans were aided by information on British naval manoeuvres , lists of what ships were coming to North America and detailed memoirs of ship construction . Jean - Frederic obtained this information through maintaining an intelligence service that was considered one of the most efficient in Europe . This was only made possible due to the drastic funding increases he managed to obtain for the Troupes de la Marine . The typical budget appropriated to the marine from the mid - 1720s to mid - 1730s was 9 million livres ; in 1739 , however , Jean - Frederic managed to obtain a budget of 19 . 2 million livres . In the following years he acquired budgets of 20 million livres in 1740 , 26 million in 1741 and 27 million in 1742 . Over his career as administrator he held the positions of chamberlain of the royal household , minister of the marine , and director of the secret service , fulfilling his duties with efficiency and precision . In 1749 , Maurepas was removed by a coup led by Duc de Richelieu , putting an end to his period of immense success . He was exiled from Paris for an epigram against Madame de Pompadour , and went to Bourges and then onto Pontchartrain . In 1774 , he was appointed to minister of state to Louis XVI , as well as chief adviser , holding both positions until 1781 . He gave Turgot the direction of finance , placed Lamoignon - Malesherbes over the royal household and made Vergennes minister for foreign affairs . At the outset of his new career he showed his weakness by recalling to their functions , in deference to popular clamour , the members of the old Parlement ousted by Maupeou , thus reconstituting the most dangerous enemy of the royal power . This step , and his intervention on behalf of the American states , helped to pave the way for the French Revolution . Jealous of his personal ascendancy over Louis XVI , he intrigued against Turgot , whose disgrace in 1776 was followed after six months of disorder by the appointment of Jacques Necker . In 1781 Maurepas deserted Necker as he had done Turgot , and he died at Versailles on 21 November 1781 . Maurepas is credited with contributions to the collection of facetiae known as the " Etrennes de la Saint Jean " ( 2nd ed . , 1742 ) . Four volumes of " Memoires de Maurepas " , purporting to be collected by his secretary and edited by J . L . G . Soulavie in 1792 , included information on the North American colonies , the fall of Louisbourg , trade in the Caribbean , the censorship of books and administration . He also recorded extensive information on all naval matters including naval construction , navigation sailing instructions and fighting at sea . The collection of memoirs is now in the possession of Cornell University . Lake Maurepas , Louisiana , USA was named for him , showing his surviving influence on the New World . See also . Comte de Maurepas ( ship )