Vismes, Anne Pierre Jacques de, 1745-1819

Anne-Pierre-Jacques de Vismes, or Devismes, (1745, Paris – 1819, Caudebec-en-Caux) was a French writer and administrator. Closely associated with the powerful interests of the Ferme Générale (Tax Farm), he managed to get himself appointed head of the Académie Royale de Musique in 1778 with the support of his sister, Adelaide de Vismes, lady-in-waiting of Queen Marie Antoinette and the wife of the influential former fermier-general, Jean-Benjamin de La Borde. His attempts to reform this aging institution that was the Paris Opera faced continued opposition from the artistic staff. In 1780, financial difficulties finally brought him down and the opera was put under direct and permanent guardianship of royal power through the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi.