 He studied in the Netherlands at the Protestant University of Franeker.In 1763, returning to France after a stay in England, de Ladebat entered his father's naval armaments business, and invested heavily in the development of an "Experimental Farm" in Pessac, and began to deforest the moors of Bordeaux.During the same period, he actively participated in the work of the Bordeaux Academy of Sciences, as well as the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, of which he was president.