Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles | |
|---|---|
_-_P2539_-_Mus%25C3%25A9e_Carnavalet.jpg) Portrait byJean-Louis Laneuville | |
| 4th & 24th President of the National Convention | |
| In office 8–22 August 1793 (1793-08-08 –1793-08-22) | |
| Preceded by | Georges Danton |
| Succeeded by | Maximilien Robespierre |
| In office 1–15 November 1792 (1792-11-01 –1792-11-15) | |
| Preceded by | Élie Guadet |
| Succeeded by | Henri Grégoire |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1759-09-20)20 September 1759 |
| Died | 5 April 1794(1794-04-05) (aged 34) Paris,First French Republic |
| Cause of death | Execution by Guillotine |
| Political party | The Mountain |
Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles (French pronunciation:[maʁiʒɑ̃eʁodəseʃɛl], 20 September 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French judge,freemason and politician who took part in theFrench Revolution.
Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles was born inParis into anoble and well-known family. His grandfather wasRené Hérault, who had served asLieutenant General of Police ofParis between 1725 and 1739. His great-grandfather wasJean Moreau de Séchelles (1690–1760), who had served asController-General of Finances between 1754 and 1756 and had given his name to theSeychelles archipelago. Jean Moreau de Séchelles's daughter, Hélène Moreau de Séchelles (1715–1798), was the second wife of René Hérault.
Most authors, however, consider that René Hérault was not the biological grandfather of Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles. His biological grandfather was most likelyLouis Georges Érasme de Contades (1704–1795),Marshal of France, who had an affair with Hélène Moreau de Séchelles during her marriage to René Hérault. Hélène Moreau de Séchelles gave birth to a son in 1737, Jean-Baptiste Martin Hérault de Séchelles – the father of Marie-Jean, who died in 1759, at theBattle of Minden, where Contades was commanding the French army. Contades took care of Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles after the early death of his father. He had arranged to marry his illegitimate son Jean-Baptiste Martin Hérault de Séchelles to his wife's niece, so that he might present himself in society as the "uncle" of Marie-Jean.
Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles was also the first cousin of the famousDuchess of Polignac, the friend and confidant of QueenMarie Antoinette. The Duchess of Polignac, who would later be the object of deep revolutionary disapprobation, was the daughter of Jeanne Charlotte Hérault (1726–1753 or 1756), herself the daughter of René Hérault and his first wife. Finally, he was also the nephew ofClaude-Henri Feydeau de Marville, Lieutenant General of Police of Paris between 1739 and 1747, who had married Marie-Jean's aunt – the second daughter of René Hérault and his first wife.
Hérault de Séchelles made his debut as alawyer at theChâtelet[1] ofParis, the city's civil and criminal court. At the age of twenty, he became King's Advocate (a position similar toAdvocate General) at the Châtelet, in part due to the aid of the Duchess of Polignac. Associates of the Polignac family presented him to the queen, who pushed his appointment as Advocate General at the prestigiousParlement of Paris.[2]
Activefreemason, he was a member ofLes Neuf Soeurs lodge since its creation in 1776.[3]
His legal occupation did not prevent him from devoting himself to literature, and in 1785 he published an account of a visit he had made to the noted naturalistGeorges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon atMontbard:La visite à Buffon, ou Voyage à Montbard.[1] He was also the author of a philosophical work published after his death,Théorie de l'ambition.
Despite his upbringing, Hérault became an early proponent of Revolutionary ideas, and took part in thestorming of the Bastille in July 1789. In December 1790 he was appointed judge of the court of the1st arrondissement in thedépartement of Paris.[1][4] From the end of January to April 1791, Hérault was absent on a mission inAlsace, where he had been sent to restore order[1] following a period of civil unrest and to enforce theCivil Constitution of the Clergy. Here he received death-threats.[5] On his return he was appointedCommissaire du Roi in theCour de cassation.[1]
He was elected as a deputy for Paris to theLegislative Assembly,[1] and in September 1792 was elected a deputy to the convention,[6] where he gravitated towards the extremeleft.[1] He also served as a member of several committees; during his time as a member of the diplomatic committee, on 11 June 1793, he presented a memorable report demanding that the nation should bedeclared to be in danger.[1]
During and after the10 August 1792 insurrection, he worked alongsideGeorges Danton, one of the organizers and leading figures of this rising and, on 2 September, was appointed president of the Legislative Assembly.[1]
In 1792, he was elected to theNational Convention as deputy for thedépartement ofSeine-et-Oise, and was sent on a mission to organize the newdépartement ofMont Blanc.[1] He was thus absent during the trial ofKingLouis XVI, but he made it known that he approved of hisexecution.[1]
On his return to Paris, Hérault was several times president of the convention, notably on 2 June 1793, the occasion of the attack on theGirondins (when he unsuccessfully pleaded for the troops to retreat),[7] and on 10 August 1793, on which was celebrated the passing of theActe constitutionnel (called "ofThe Mountain"); Hérault de Sechelles served, alongsideLouis de Saint-Just, as one of the writers and redactors of the1793 Constitution, which was fated never to be put into effect.
Hérault was a member of theReign of Terror'sCommittee of Public Safety, to which he was elected on 13 June 1793.[8] He was chiefly concerned withdiplomacy, and from October to December 1793 was employed on a diplomatic and military mission in Alsace.[1] This mission made him an object of suspicion to the other members of the committee.[1] Hérault, whose aristocratic background was also accounted a source of suspicion, was accused of collusion with foreign agents, amounting totreason byBourdon de l'Oise on 16 December 1793. He responded by offering his resignation from the Committee of Public Safety, but this was refused.[9] However the following Spring brought further accusations against him of collusion with counter-revolutionaries, and he was also embroiled in the scandal around thedissolution of the East India Company.[10] He was tried before theRevolutionary Tribunal and condemned alongside Danton,[1]François Joseph Westermann,Camille Desmoulins, andPierre Philippeaux. They wereguillotined on the same day: 5 April 1794 (16thGerminal in theyear II).[1][11]
