François-Nicolas Vincent (French pronunciation:[fʁɑ̃swanikɔlavɛ̃sɑ̃]; born 1766 or 1767; died 24 March 1794) was the Secretary General of the War Ministry in theFirst French Republic, and a significant figure in theFrench Revolution.^[1] A member of theCordelier Club, he is best known as a radicalsans-culottes leader and prominent member of theHébertist faction.

The son of a prison concierge and a nativeParisian, Vincent worked as a lawyer's clerk and is believed to have lived in substantial poverty until 1792, at which point he became an active participant in the radical Revolutionary effort. The youngest of the men to followJacques Hébert, Vincent, along with fellow HébertistCharles-Philippe Ronsin, took the Revolution to the country, becoming revolutionaries-on-a-mission. Upon his return to Paris, Vincent became more active in theCordelier Club and was soon elected Orator. After this advancement, Vincent was eventually made General Secretary of the War Ministry underJean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte. It is this job that allowed Vincent to bring more power to the sans-culottes.

Jacques Hébert, writer and publisher of theLa Pere Duchesne, led Vincent, among others, on a campaign against what they deemed the soft 'moderation' of theCommittee of Public Safety, along with attempts to aid in the 'de-Christianization' ofFrance. Vincent supported the overthrow ofMaximilien Robespierre and when he and his fellow Hébertists became active enough in their opposition, Robespierre reacted with an arrest and trial for 'treasonous activity'. The Hébertists, along with some of their close friends and companions, were charged with attempting to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety to ensure the re-establishment of themonarchy and conspiring with foreigners to take down the Republic. No physical evidence was given to support these allegations but, even so, Vincent and his fellow Hébertists were found guilty and sentenced to death. On 24 March 1794, at the age of twenty-seven, François-Nicolas Vincent was beheaded at theguillotine along with Hébert, Ronsin,Momoro, and the other leaders of the Hébertist faction.^[2]

• Andress, David.The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)ISBN 978-0-374-27341-5
• Andress, David.French Society in Revolution 1789-1799. (Manchester University Press, 1999)ISBN 978-0-7190-5191-3
• Brown, Howard G.War, Revolution, and the Bureaucratic State: Politics and Army Administration in France 1791-1799. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)ISBN 978-0-19-820542-5
• Furet, François, and Mona Ozouf.A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution. (Harvard University Press, 1989)ISBN 978-0-674-17728-4
• McNamara, Charles B. "The Hebertists; study of a French Revolutionary 'faction' in the reign of terror, 1793-1794". (New York : Fordham University, 1974).

• 1760s births
• 1794 deaths
• Politicians from Paris
• Hébertists
• French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages with French IPA
• Year of birth uncertain