Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms dealer, financier, revolutionary, 1732-1799
He was perhaps most known for his theatrical works, including three Figaro plays: Le Barbier de Séville, Le Mariage de Figaro, and La Mère coupable.
Determined to publish Voltaire's complete works, many of which were banned, he bought the rights to the manuscripts and set up a print shop in Germany. He was instrumental in saving many of Voltaire's works which might otherwise have been lost.
This statue by Louis Clausade (1895) sits in a triangle in the Marais.
Beaumarchais statue
Rue Saint Antoine et Rue des Tournelles
Métro Bastille
75004 Paris