Edouard Drouyn De Lhuys, a French diplomatist, born in Paris, Nov. 19, 1805. He studied law, was successively attached to the embassies at Madrid and the Hague, and in 1840 became head of the commercial bureau in the ministry of foreign affairs. In 1842 he took his seat as an opposition member of the chamber of deputies, was dismissed from office, and became one of the most active opponents of Guizot and a prominent orator at the reform banquets. After the revolution of 1848 he was elected to the constituent assembly, and became president of the committee on foreign affairs. He was a leading supporter of Louis Napoleon, who called him into his first ministry. In June, 1849, he was appointed ambassador to England. He adhered to Louis Napoleon after the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, and under the empire was minister of foreign affairs. In the negotiations preceding the Crimean war, at the conference of Vienna, he endeavored to prevent it, and resigned on account of his failure. In 1856 the emperor sent a message to the senate reflecting upon its inactivity, whereupon Drouyn de Lhuys resigned his seat in the senate, and accepted the presidency of the council of administration of the eastern railways.

He again became minister of foreign affairs in 1862, and as such urged the cabinets of Prussia and England to propose a six months' truce between the contending parties in the United States, but without result. On Sept. 15, 1864, he signed the convention with Italy concerning the recall of the French troops from Rome. In 1866 he desired France to intervene between Prussia and Austria, but his views not prevailing, he resigned Sept. 1. On the downfall of the empire he went to the island of Jersey.