Paul La Plagne Barris (1826-1888?)

Jean Paul Lacave Laplagne was born in Paris in 1817, eldest son of Raymond Lacave Laplagne and his wife, Angélique Boyer. The family of Lacave was an ancient family from Montesquiou in the Gers in southwest France, with a family seat at the Château de La Plagne. 

Raymond was one of the leading judges in France in the first half of the 19th century, becoming president of the Cour de Cassation (the court of final appeal in France) and a confidant of King Louis Philippe.  He was also the heir of his uncle, Pierre Jean Paul Barris and when the latter died in 1824, he changed his surname to Lacave Laplagne Barris by royal warrant.  However he was usually known as Laplagne Barris and his son, Jean Paul, was known as Paul Laplagne Barris.

Paul studied at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris and then embarked on a very successful legal career, becoming an imperial procurator and serving as an appeal court judge.  In 1851 he married Camille Zangiacomi whose grandfather, Joseph Zangiacomi, had previously been president of the Cour de Cassation and a close associate of Raymond.  Both Raymond and Joseph were great collectors of rare books.  After the marriage of Paul and Camille, their two collections were united at the Château of La Plagne, where they substantially remained until 2013.  Paul undertook various improvements to the Château, including the construction of new libraries to house the collection. 

Paul himself had a great love of history and archaeology and published many academic articles on the history of southwest France as well as a substantial monograph describing medieval seals from the region of Gascony. He died at Montesquiou in 1888.