People · French consul-general
Georges Gaston Servan de Bezaure
白藻泰Báizǎotài · b. 1852
French consul-general in Shanghai 1896-1901, who dealt with the Siming Gongsuo riot of 1898 and negotiated the 1900 extension of the French Concession.
Georges Gaston Servan de Bezaure (白藻泰, Báizǎotài) was the French consul-general in Shanghai from 1896 to 1901, the years in which the French Concession gained its largest nineteenth-century extension.
A former student interpreter at the French legation, he took the Shanghai post in August 1896. His first business was practical: land at Xiaojiachang for the Conseil Municipal (公董局) and a waterworks, agreed with successive daotai.
His term is best known for the second Siming Gongsuo (四明公所) incident of July 1898. The gazetteer records that he sent out the French volunteer corps and landed sailors, and that 17 Chinese died. The French side then used the dispute to press the extension that had long been under discussion. After talks with daotai Li Guangjiu, Zeng Bingxi and Yu Lianyuan, the new boundary was announced on 27 January 1900. Under Yuan Shuxun the Xujiahui road area outside the Concession passed to the Conseil, with police patrols starting on 1 April 1901. He left Shanghai that month.
Timeline
- 1872Begins as student interpreter at the French legation in China1
- 1896Acting, then full, consul-general at Shanghai1
- 1898Second Siming Gongsuo incident; 17 Chinese killed1
- 1900New French Concession boundary published on 27 January1
- 1901Xujiahui road area placed under the Conseil; leaves Shanghai in April1
Connections
- Cai Jun蔡钧Negotiated with daotai Cai Jun over the French waterworks and the Siming Gongsuo
- Li Guangjiu李光久Discussed extending the French Concession with daotai Li Guangjiu
- Lü Haihuan吕海寰Settled the Xuzhou missionary cases with Lü Haihuan
- Yu Lianyuan余联沅Agreed the 1900 French Concession extension announced by daotai Yu Lianyuan
Yuan Shuxun袁树勋Agreed with daotai Yuan Shuxun on Xujiahui roads under the Conseil