LACOSTE, Etienne Philippe, Baron de (lah-coast'), French administrator, born in Dax in October, 1730; died in Bordeaux in January, 1820. He was admitted to the bar at Bordeaux in 1757, removed to Paris in 1760, and in 1767 became director of the law division in the department of the colonies, and in 1774 chairman of the same department. Lacoste travelled through the French West Indies, ascertaining their wants and investigating the local administrations. In January, 1783, he was elected by the colonial assembly of Santo Domingo its representative before the king's privy council, and in November, 1790, he was appointed special commissary to the West Indies. He restored order in Guadeloupe and partially in Santo Domingo; but in Martinique he was opposed by the Count de Bihague, the governor-general. He returned to France in February, 1792, was secretary for the navy and colonies from 16 March till l0 July, and in 1800 became president of the marine court for the privateers navigating in the West Indies and South America and state councillor for the colonies. He held those posts during the whole of Napoleon's reign, retiring in 1815. He published several works on the administration of the colonies, including "Memoire au roi sur le regime interieur des colonies des Antilles" (Paris, 1792).