Jean-Baptiste Kléber (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist klebɛʁ]; 9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) was a French military officer who served in the War of the Bavarian Succession and the French Revolutionary Wars. After serving for one year in the French Royal Army, he joined the army of the Holy Roman Empire seven years later. However, his humble birth hindered his opportunities. Eventually, Kléber's joined the French Revolutionary Army in 1792 and quickly rose through the ranks.
Serving in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition, he also suppressed the Vendée Revolt. Kléber retired to private life in the peaceful interim after the Treaty of Campo Formio, but returned to military service to accompany Napoleon in the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. As the invasion started to suffer setbacks, Napoleon returned to Paris in 1799 and appointed Kléber as commander of all French forces in Egypt. He was assassinated by a Syrian theology student in Cairo in 1800.
A trained architect, Kléber, in times of peace, designed a number of buildings.
Source : Wikipedia
