Who was the governor of the Bastille killed during the storming?

Bernard-René de Launay was the governor of the Bastille killed during its storming.

Launay was a career military officer and the son of a former Bastille governor. He commanded a garrison of veteran soldiers known as invalides, reinforced shortly before the attack by 32 Swiss grenadiers. His task was complicated by the fortress’s stores of gunpowder, which made it a strategic target for revolutionaries arming themselves in Paris.

On 14 July 1789, Launay negotiated with representatives of the city but refused to surrender the fortress immediately. Fighting broke out after revolutionaries entered the outer courtyard, and the garrison eventually capitulated when Launay recognized that continued resistance was unlikely to succeed.

The crowd seized him while he was being escorted to the Hôtel de Ville. He was beaten and stabbed to death, and his severed head was displayed on a pike. Jacques de Flesselles, the provost of Paris merchants, was killed separately that day; he is sometimes confused with Launay.