Baron David-Louis Constant de Rebecque, seigneur d'Hermenches and Villars-Mendraz, a.k.a. David-Louis Constant d'Hermenches (17 November 1722 in Lausanne – 25 February 1785 in Paris) was a colonel and commandant of a Swiss regiment in the Dutch Republic and Maréchal de camp in French service with Swiss regiments. He is also known for his contact with Voltaire and his correspondence with Isabelle de Charrière.
He was the eldest son of Samuel Constant de Rebecque (1676–1756) and his wife, Rose Suzanne née de Saussure de Bercher (1698–1782). His father became member of the Dutch army in 1699. Later he started a small Swiss regiment in the Dutch States Army. He bought the seignories Hermenches in 1725 and Villars-Mendraz in 1753.
Constant d'Hermenches started in the regiment of his father in 1738. They fought at the battle of Fontenoy, where Constant d'Hermenches was wounded. He covered the scar above his left eye with a black band across his forehead. He entered an arranged marriage in 1744 with the daughter of the mayor of Lausanne Louise Anna Jeanne Françoise de Seigneux (1715–1772). In The Hague in 1750 they had a son Guillaume Anne de Constant Rebecque de Villars with as godparents William IV, Prince of Orange and his wife Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange.
He kept up a long correspondence (1760-1776) with Isabelle van Tuyll van Serooskerken, the future Isabelle de Charrière.
In 1776 he remarried Marie Catherine Philippine de Préseau, née Taisnes de Rémonval (1743-1779).
Works and correspondences
Constant d'Hermenches, David-Louis; Voltaire (1988). Courtney, C. P., ed. Pamphlets and occasional pieces with replies by Voltaire. Daemon. ISBN 978-0-9510166-3-3.
Isabelle de Charrière, [Collected works:] Œuvres complètes, Édition critique par J-D. Candaux, C.P. Courtney, Pierre and Simone Dubois, P. Thompson, J. Vercruysse, D.M. Wood. Amsterdam, G.A. van Oorschot, 1979-1984 10 volumes: Vol. 1-6: Correspondence, Vol. 10: Essays. ISBN 9789028205000
Ik heb geen talent voor ondergeschiktheid: Belle van Zuylen in briefwisseling met Constant d'Hermenches, James Boswell en Werner C.W. van Pallandt. Van Oorschot. 1987. ISBN 9789028206557
Une liaison dangereuse : correspondance [de Belle de Zuylen] avec Constant d’Hermenches (1760-1776), éd. Isabelle et Jean-Louis Vissière, Paris, La Différence, 1991, ISBN 2729107169
Aru kiken-na kankei - Agnes to d'Hermenches [Une liaison dangereuse - Agnès et d'Hermenches]. In: Omon Ronso, [Bulletin de la Faculté de droit, Nihon Université, Tokyo] 36 (1993), 40 (1995), 44 (1997), 45 (1997), 46 (1998), 48 (1998), 50 (2000), 52 (2001), 56 (2003), 57 (2003), 61 (2004), 67 (2006), 68 (2007), 70 (2008), 72 (2008). Translation Michikazu Tamai. ISSN 0288-1411
Aru kikenna kankei : Aniesu to derumanshu. Translation Michikazu Tamai. Tokyo, Surugadai Shuppansha, 2011. 272 p. ISBN 9784411022332
There are no letters like yours. The correspondence of Isabelle de Charrière and Constant d'Hermences. Translated, with an introduction and annotations by Janet Whatley and Malcolm Whatley. Lincoln NE, University of Nebraska Press, 2000. xxxv, 549 p. ISBN 978-0-8032-1714-0
van Strien, Kees (2005). Isabelle de Charriere/(Belle de Zuylen): Early Writings : New Materials from Dutch Archives. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 978-90-429-1646-3.
Voltaire; Constant d'Hermenches, David-Louis (1956). Roulin, Alfred, ed. Lettres inédites à Constant d'Hermenches. Buchet/Chastel.
Voltaire; Besterman, Theodore (1976). Correspondence and Related Documents [of Voltaire]. Voltaire Foundation. ISBN 978-0-7294-0036-7.
