Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay permanently stationed in Paris except in time of war. In 1776 de Launay succeeded M. de Jumilhac as Governor of the Bastille. As was the custom with many senior positions under the Ancien Régime, the marquis purchased the office of governor from his predecessor as a form of investment. The thirteen years that he spent in this position were uneventful, though on 19 December 1778 he reportedly made the mistake of failing to fire the cannon of the Bastille as a salute on the birth of a daughter (Madame Royale) to King Louis XVI. In August 1785 he was given
Bernard de Nonancourt the heads of Laurent-Perrier. Bernard de Nonancourt Bernard de Nonancourt (c. 1920 – October 29, 2010) was a French businessman, member of the French Resistance and president of the Laurent-Perrier champagne house for more than fifty years. Under de Nonancourt' s leadership, Laurent-Perrier expanded to become the world's third largest seller of champagne by 2005. He was known as "Le Grand Bernard" within the industry. De Nonancourt's mother, Marie-Louise Lanson de Nonancourt, purchased the Tours-sur-Marne-based champagne maker that would become Laurent-Perrier in 1938. His older brother, Maurice de Nonancourt, was originally intended to inherit the company from his mother, but