Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution From the Rights of Man to Robespierre (135 page)

Ducos, Jean-François
(1765–1793), ardent propagator of the new philosophique ideas and, from 1791, of democratic republicanism, a leading representative for Bordeaux in the legislature among the inner, policy-making circle of the Brissotins. Arrested in October 1793, at the instigation of Billaud-Varenne and Amar, guillotined with Brissot on 31 October 1793.

Dumas, René-François
(1757–1794), ex-priest, lawyer, and small-town Montagnard mayor specially selected by Robespierre in September 1793 as vice-president of the Paris Tribunal Révolutionnaire and, from April 1794, its president. Ruthlessly presided over the trials of the Hébertistes and Dantonistes. Guillotined with Robespiere on 28 July 1794.

Dumouriez, Charles François
(1739–1823), army officer and purported ally of Brissot, minister of Foreign Affair from March to June 1792. Subsequently appointed commander of the Army of the North, won great prestige with his victories at Valmy (September 1792) and Jemappes (November 1792). Increasingly at odds with the Convention, and in sentiment privately antirepublican, unsuccessfully attempted a coup against the Brissotin revolutionary government in April 1793. Defected to the Austrians when his men refused to follow him.

Fabre d’Églantine, Philippe François
(1750–1794), actor, playwright, and notorious womanizer, from late 1789, prominent in the Cordeliers (where he backed Danton) and the Jacobins. Mired in financial scandal linked to his activities on various Convention committees, became useful to Montagnard opponents denouncing him as Danton’s corrupt evil genius. Guillotined with Danton on 6 April 1794.

Fauchet, Claude
(1744–1793), democratic republican revolutionary priest who led the efforts to combine la philosophie with Catholicism. Among the founders and best speakers of the Cercle Social, was a passionate egalitarian and disciple of Rousseau. Accepted most of the 1790–91 sweeping church reforms but not the 1792 divorce law, or marriage of priests. Guillotined with Brissot on 31 October 1793.

Fleuriot-Lescot, Jean-Baptiste
(1761–1794), obscure Belgian revolutionary fled from Brussels, made deputy to Fouquier-Tinville on the Paris Tribunal Révolutionnaire in March 1793 by Robespierre who, on 10 May 1794, also arranged his election as Paris mayor in succession to the equally unscrupulous but less ruthless Pache. At Thermidor, led the pro-Robespierre forces together with Hanriot. Guillotined with Robespierre on 28 July 1794.

Forster, Georg
(1754–1794), Mainz university librarian, professor, and Jacobin leader. Among the principal writers of the later radical
Aufklärung
, and Germany’s foremost eighteenth-century ethnographer. Represented the Rhenish democratic republic of 1792–93 in Paris where he died naturally in 1794. Among the foremost editors and propagators of democratic republicanism in Germany.

Fouché, Joseph
(1759–1820), former priest and zealous Montagnard, among the chief initiators of the de-Christianization movement. Jointly responsible with Collot d’Herbois for the atrocities at Lyon in November 1793. After quarreling with Robespierre, sided with the Thermidorians. Although thoroughly dishonest, in July 1799 Barras appointed him the Republic’s police minister. Only months later, betrayed Barras to aid Napoleon’s quest for dictatorship, becoming Napoleon’s chief of police. In 1814–15, betrayed Napoleon to become Louis XVIII’s chief of police.

Fouquier-Tinville, Antoine
(1746–1795), obscure lawyer appointed to head the Tribunal Révolutionnaire in Paris in March 1793, by Danton, then minister of justice. Ruthlessly methodical, presided over most major trials in Paris under the Terror, issuing hundreds of political death sentences including that of Robespierre on 10 Thermidor. Guillotined in Paris with fifteen other unscrupulous judges and lawyers of the tribunal on 7 May 1795.

Fournier, Claude, “l’Américain”
(1745–1825), former Saint-Domingue plantation owner, slave-owner and rhum producer of unruly temperament who, from the storming of the Bastille onward, emerged as a leading populist agitator and champion of sansculottisme around the Palais-Royal. In 1793, after breaking with Marat and the Montagne was expelled from the Cordeliers and imprisoned several times. At the Restoration in 1814, claimed to have always been a royalist.

François de Neufchâteau, Nicolas Louis
(1750–1828), poet, playwright, agronomist, and legal theorist, imprisoned under the Terror after the banning of one of his plays deemed subversive by the Montagne. Elected one of the five directors after Fructidor (September 1797), further stiffened the Republic’s republican anticlerical educational reforms, using his ministry to propagate Radical Enlightenment texts.

Fréron, Stanislas Louis
(1754–1802), disciple of Marat, and leading journalist and member of the Convention who with Barras and Augustin Robespierre served the Montagne as a key “missionary of Terror” in Provence in late 1793. After Thermidor, became prominent (despite his own atrocities) in denouncing the crimes, corruption, and hypocrisy of the Montagne.

Garat, Dominque Joseph
(1749–1833), member of the circles of Diderot, Helvétius, and Condorcet since the mid-1770s, selected by Brissot to succeed Danton as the Republic’s minister of justice in October 1792. Investigated the September 1792 Paris massacres but was deterred from punishing its instigators. Proscribed and imprisoned during the Terror, a leading Idéologue from 1796 and professor of the Institut de France who supported the 1799 coup of Brumaire.

Gensonné, Armand
(1758–1793), Bordeaux lawyer, leading Brissotin close to Dumouriez, played a prominent role in drawing up the decrees outlawing the king’s brothers and the émigré nobility. As the second most active member of the Convention’s constitutional committee after Condorcet, contributed to formulating and presenting the world’s first democratic constitution (February 1793). Arrested 2 June 1793; guillotined with Brissot 31 October 1793.

Ginguené, Pierre-Louis
(1748–1816), man of letters, author of a literary history of Italy, and an editor of
La Feuille villageoise
, headed the 1791 petitioning movement for pantheonizing Rousseau. Imprisoned under the Terror, afterwards headed the Thermidorians’ Commission for Public Instruction. Opposed Napoleon’s dictatorship.

Gioia, Melchiorre
(1767–1829), Italian Radical Enlightenment publicist and Utilitarian philosopher from Piacenza. Influenced by Bentham, one of the architects of the Italian republican revolutions of 1796–97 and, in July 1796, a founder of the Milanese paper
Giornale degli amici della libertà e dell’ uguaglianza
. Appealed to his compatriots to form authentic democratic republics that would not be merely subservient to the French Directory.

Girey-Duprey, Jean-Marie
(1769–1793), ardent republican, keeper of manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale, and ally of Brissot, especially as editor of
Le Patriote françois
from October 1791. Denouncing Marat and the Montagne, forced to cease publication on 2 June 1793. Outlawed, escaped and hid in Bordeaux but was caught a few months later. Guillotined in Paris on 20 November 1793.

Gobel, Jean-Baptiste
(1727–1794), ex-Jesuit, in March 1791 the National Assembly’s first bishop deputy to swear the oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Became the first popularly “elected” bishop of Paris, obtaining far more votes than Fauchet, Grégoire, or Sieyès. Publicly renounced Christianity and his bishopric for la philosophie on 7 November 1793. Guillotined in Paris, on 13 April 1794.

Gorsas, Antoine Joseph
(1752–1793), before 1789 a tutor, founded the
Courrier de Versailles à Paris
in July 1789, and became one of the Revolution’s principal republican journalists. Among the Montagne’s sharpest critics and an organizer of the 20 June and 10 August 1792 risings, was denounced by Robespierre in the Jacobins from April 1792 onwards. Guillotined in Paris on 7 October 1793.

Gouges, Olympe de
(1748–1793), renowned female dramatist, admirer of Mirabeau, and radical publicist for women’s rights, black emancipation, and freedom of expression. Among the most prominent female participants in the Revolution. Vehemently denounced and derided Robespierre. Guillotined in Paris on 3 November 1793.

Grégoire, Henri, Abbé
(1750–1831), priest but also a leading champion of toleration through love of l’esprit philosophique and reverence for Voltaire and Rousseau. Following his 1788 essay on Jewish emancipation, became a leading promoter of the rights of Jews and blacks. Supported most of the Revolution’s ecclesiastical reforms. An architect of the February 1795 separation of state and church.

Guadet, Marguerite Elie
(1758–1794), leading Brissotin deputy and advocate of a philosophique stance, repudiating populist Rousseauism and deriding all invoking of divine providence. A vigorous orator, in the Convention prominent in denouncing Marat and Robespierre. Escaped after the coup of 2 June 1793. Guillotined in Bordeaux, 17 June 1794.

Guyomar, Pierre
(1757–1826), mayor of a small town of Lower Brittany, elected to the Convention on September 1792. Played a prominent part in the constitutional debate over the winter of 1792–93. Among the most ardent advocates of women’s equality and right to participate in politics. Prudently quiescent under the Montagnard dictatorship, after Thermidor was instrumental in getting the
surviving Brissotins restored to the Convention and organizing the neo-Brissotin resurgence.

Guzman, Andres Maria de
(1752–1794), naturalized Frenchman of Andalusian origin, among the foremost Parisian crowd agitators. Initially allied to Marat and Hébert, a key sansculotte mobilizer on 31 May and 2 June 1793. Resenting his sansculotte popularity, Robespierre had him publicly denounced. Guillotined with Danton, on 5 April 1794.

Hanriot, François
(1759–1794), notorious ruffian enjoying great prestige in the sansculotte quarters of Paris, made commander of the Paris Nation Guard by Robespierre on 31 May 1793. Played the leading role in overpowering the Convention during the coup of 2 June 1793. At Thermidor, headed the efforts to rescue Robespierre. Guillotined with Robespierre on 28 July 1794.

Hébert, Jacque René
(1757–1794), middle-class disciple of Marat and editor of the most overtly populist revolutionary paper,
Le Père Duchesne
, gained great prestige among the sansculottes and in the Jacobins. Headed the Montagnard faction that was most amenable to compromise with sansculotte demands. Denounced in the Jacobins by Saint-Just on 14 March, guillotined in Paris on 24 March 1794.

Hérault de Séchelles, Marie-Jean
(1759–1794)
avocat-général
of the Paris parlement at the young age of twenty-six in 1785, a sophisticated, wealthy, cynical aristocrat and political trimmer deftly steering between Feuillants, Brissotins, and the Montagne. Headed the commission that finalized the Montagnard constitution of June 1793. Loathed by Robespierre and Saint-Just, guillotined with Danton on 5 April 1794.

Houdon, Jean-Antoine
(1741–1828), chief sculptor of the Enlightenment, renowned for his busts of Diderot, Mirabeau, Lafayette, Turgot, Gluck, Jefferson, Barnave, Marie-Joseph Chénier, and Barlow, as well as of the Rousseau bust gracing the National Assembly and the famous statue of Voltaire seated. Also sculpted Washington during his visit to the United States (1785) and Catherine the Great in Petersburg. In difficulties under the Montagnard despotism, clashed with David, narrowly escaping imprisonment.

Irhoven van Dam, Willem van
(1760–1802), radical egalitarian and republican journalist in Amsterdam and editor of the
De Courier van Europa
(1783–85). In 1794–95, headed the underground committee in Amsterdam planning the failed rising of October 1794 and, more successfully, preparing the way for the French invasion of Holland and Batavian Revolution of early 1795.

Isnard, Maximilien
(1755–1825), Grasse
parfumeur
, converted to philosophique ideas and an aggressive republicanism, during the Convention in 1792–93 was among the leaders of the Brissotin ascendancy. Hid during the Terror, reemerged after Thermidor, restored to the Convention in February 1795. After 1800, converted to ultra-royalism and mystical Catholicism.

Jullien, Marc Antoine
(1775–1848), ardent egalitarian among Robespierre’s most youthful and trusted agents, directed the stepped-up Terror at Bordeaux in the summer of 1794. After Thermidor, imprisoned as a Robespierriste until October 1795. During 1796, edited the republican French-language newspaper of Napoleon’s army in Italy. Among the organizers of the Neapolitan republic of 1799.

Kersaint, Armand Guy, comte de
(1742–1793), Breton republican naval officer chairing the Paris assembly of electors in 1789. In January 1793, led the Convention deputies demanding Louis XVI’s life imprisonment rather than execution, resigning in protest shortly before the execution. Vehement foe of the Montagne. Arrested on 2 October, guillotined on 4 December 1793.

Kervélégan, Augustin Bernard de
(1748–1825), republican pamphleteer in 1788, opposing royal despotism, aristocracy, and ecclesiastical authority. A member of the Brissotin Commission de Douze of May 1793 set up to investigate the Montagnard Commune, outlawed during the Terror, survived in hiding. Reappeared in the Convention in March 1795, remaining prominent in republican politics until the Brumaire coup. Submitted without protest to Napoleon’s dictatorship.

Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb
(1724–1803), poet and enlightener among the leading German apologists for the American and French revolutions. A constitutional monarchist rather than democrat, horrified by the September massacres and Robespierre, resigned his honorary French citizenship during the Terror.

Lacombe, Claire
(1765–?), actress and prominent female organizer of the 10 August 1792 rising, presided over the Parisian republican women’s section organizations and women’s Marat cult after his assassination. Associated with several Enragé petitions for food price regulation. Criticized Robespierre, arrested on 3 April 1794, and imprisoned for thirteen months until released in August 1795.