Colbert, Jean Baptiste, << kawl BAIR, zhahn bah TEEST >> (1619-1683), a French statesman, served King Louis XIV as superintendent of finance from 1661 until his death. A believer in firm government control over the country’s economy, Colbert worked to make France financially strong. He supported commerce, industries, and internal improvements such as canals and roads. He built a powerful navy and sent explorers and colonists to America. Colbert’s efforts to keep the budget balanced failed when his rival the Marquis de Louvois, the war minister, persuaded Louis XIV to begin a costly series of wars. Colbert was born on Aug. 29, 1619, in Reims. He died on Sept. 6, 1683. Colbertism became another word for mercantilism, the most common European economic system of Colbert’s day.
