| Michel Bégon de la Picardière | |
| Birth Date: | 21 March 1667 |
| Death Date: | 18 January 1747 |
Michel Bégon de la Picardière (21 March 1667 – 18 January 1747)[1] was an early administrator in charge of the French colony of New France, in what is now the province of Quebec, Canada.
Bégons was born into a French family with a history of service to the King of France in fiscal and judicial matters. His father, Michel V Bégon, was intendant of the port of Rochefort from 1688 to 1710.[2] [3]
Bégon was appointed to serve as the intendant of New France in 1710.[4] However, he, his new wife Jeanne-Élisabeth de Beauharnois de La Boische, and his brother Claude-Michel sailed for the colony in 1712.[5] He replaced the co-intendants, Antoine-Denis Raudot and Jacques Raudot and held the position from 1712–1726.[6] During his tenure he conducted a laissez-faire approach to governing the settlement's entrepreneurs.[7] There are indications that he carried out questionable dealings in wheat and other agricultural products during his early years, using his position and the card money system to enrich himself.[8] Many of his letters and reports to the government of France have been preserved; they show him to have been an avid naturalist, and included plans and suggestions for making the colony more self-sufficient. One of these suggestions was the introduction of slavery.[9]
The last three years of his service as intendant were unexpected, as one successor died at sea before the new intendent, Claude-Thomas Dupuy, arrived. Upon the arrival of his replacement, Bégon left almost immediately for France where he continued his career.