Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay however written on 5 July that "there are two sources of anxiety concerning the Bastille; the person of the commandant (de Launay) and the nature of the garrison there". De Launay had three daughters by two wives. Some of de Launay's brother's descendants settled in Russia (see Boris Delaunay and Vadim Delaunay for details). His killing is described graphically in Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" (Book II, Chapter 21) and also in Hilary Mantel's "A Place of Greater Safety". Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay Bernard René Jourdan, marquis de Launay (1740–1789) was the French governor of the Bastille, the
Chateau and Seigneurie de Launay changed hands numerous times. Ultimately it was acquired by an unremarkable local who lived there with his family for a decade. To the previous insults of fire, political confiscation, war and vandalism was now added the shameless pillage and sale of historic fixtures. Arguably Launay was at its historic ebb when it was sold to Marcel Pierre Cléach and his wife in 1970. Monsieur Cléach was early in his political career in 1970. He would go on to become one of the longest serving and most powerful French Senators of the Fifth Republic. He also began the process of restoring