Source note

GIGUET (Simon), born during the first Empire, the oldest and only surviving child of Colonel Giguet of the artillery. In 1814 he lost his mother, the daughter of a rich Hamburg banker, and in 1826 his maternal grandfather who left him an income of two thousand francs, the German having favored others of the large family. He did not hope for any further inheritance save that of his father's sister, Mme. Marion, which had been augmented by the legacy of Colonel Giguet of the gendarmes. Thus it was that, after studying law with the subprefect Antonin Goulard, Simon Giguet, deprived of a fortune which at first seemed assured to him, became a simple attorney in the little town of Arcis, where attorneys are of little service. His aunt's and his father's position fired him with ambition for a political career. Giguet ogled at the same time for the hand and dowry of Cecile Beauvisage. Of mediocre ability; upheld the Left Centre, but failed of election in May, 1839, when he presented himself as candidate for Arcis-sur-Aube. [The Member for Arcis.]