Louis Antoine de Saint-Just | |
|---|---|
 Saint-Just by Prud'hon, 1793 (Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon) | |
| Member of the National Convention | |
| In office 20 September 1792 – 27 July 1794 | |
| Constituency | Aisne |
| 36th President of the National Convention | |
| In office 19 February 1794 – 6 March 1794 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph-Nicolas Barbeau du Barran |
| Succeeded by | Philippe Rühl |
| Member of the Committee of Public Safety | |
| In office 30 May 1793 – 27 July 1794 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 August 1767 Decize, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 28 July 1794 (aged 26) Paris, French Republic |
| Cause of death | Execution by guillotine |
| Political party | The Mountain |
| Signature |  |
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Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just[a] (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ʒyst]; 25 August 1767 – 10 Thermidor, Year II [28 July 1794]), sometimes nicknamed the Archangel of Terror,[1][2][3] was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a major figure of the French Revolution. As the youngest member elected to the National Convention, Saint-Just belonged to the Mountain faction. A steadfast supporter and close friend of Robespierre, he was swept away in his downfall during 9th Thermidor.
Renowned for his eloquence, he stood out for the uncompromising nature and inflexibility of his principles advocating equality and virtue, as well as for the effectiveness of his missions during which he rectified the situation of the Army of the Rhine and contributed to the victory of the republican armies at Fleurus. Politically combating the Girondins, the Hebertists, and then the Indulgents, he pushed for the confiscation of the property of the enemies of the Republic for the benefit of poor patriots. He was the designated speaker for the Robespierrists in their conflicts with other political parties in the National Convention, launching accusations and requisitions against figures like Danton or Hébert. To prevent the massacres for which the sans-culottes were responsible in the departments, particularly in Vendée, or to centralize repression (a point still unclear), he had the departmental revolutionary tribunals abolished and consolidated all procedures at the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris.
He was also a political theorist, and notably inspired the Constitution of Year I,[4] and the attached Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen of 1793. He also authored works on the principles of the French Revolution.
On the 9th Thermidor, he defended Robespierre against accusations made by Barère and Tallien. Arrested alongside him, he remained silent until his death the following day, when he was guillotined on the Place de la Révolution with the 104 Robespierrists executed, at the age of 26. His body and head were then thrown into a mass grave.
The dark legend surrounding this figure, and Robespierrists in general, persisted in historical research until the second half of the 20th century, before gradually being reassessed from that period onward by more recent historians. Until then, he was perceived as cruel, bloodthirsty, and having a wild and violent sexuality.[5]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Domine, Jean-François (1995). "La Rhétorique Des Conventionnels a Travers Une Étude D'ensemble: Les Discours Et Rapports De Saint-Just". Annales historiques de la Révolution française. 300 (300): 313–315. doi:10.3406/ahrf.1995.3420. ISSN 0003-4436. JSTOR 41916001. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Kociubińska, Edyta (2023). L'Artiste de la vie moderne: Le dandy entre littérature et histoire. Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004549333_012. ISBN 978-90-04-54933-3. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Belissa, Marc, et al. « Saint-Just, mémoires et histoire », Annales historiques de la Révolution française, vol. 390, no. 4, 2017, pp. 175–202.
- ^ Jean-Michel Montet (1995). "La Déclaration des droits de l'homme de 1793 : apports de la lexicologie quantitative aux problèmes de sa genèse". Langages de la Révolution (1770–1815) : actes du 4e Colloque international de lexicologie politique. éd. ENS. p. 281 et foll..
- ^ Boulant, Antoine (2020). Saint-Just: l'archange de la révolution (1re ed.). Paris: Passés composés. p. 349. ISBN 978-2-37933-030-8.