[or Genest]. French diplomatist, born in Versailles on the 9th of January 1765; died in Schodack, NY, on the 14th of July 1834. In 1789 he was sent to St. Petersburg as chargé d’affaires, and in 1792 was appointed minister to the United States. He was cordially welcomed by the American people, but when he denounced the American government for remaining neutral in the troubles between France and England, and went so far as to issue commissions to privateers, ordering that their prizes should be tried and condemned by French consuls in the United States, Washington demanded and obtained his recall. Genest decided not to return to France, and was naturalized and settled in the state of New York. He married a daughter of Governor Clinton in 1794, and, later, a Miss Osgood. He made translation of several Swedish and Norse writings; among them, a History of Eric XIV.
