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
Marguerite de Launay, baronne de Staal of the kind has ever been. "Dans cet art enjoué de raconter", says Sainte-Beuve, "Madame de Staal est classique". Besides her "Mémoires" Mme de Staal left two excellent short comedies, performed at the court of Sceaux, and some letters, the answers to which are in some cases extant, and show, as well as the references of contemporaries, that the writer did not exaggerate her own charm. Her "Mémoires" were translated by Selina Bathurst (1877) and by Cora H. Bell (1892). See the edition (1877) of her "Mémoires" by M. de Lescure. Marguerite de Launay, baronne de Staal Marguerite Jeanne Cordier