Jean-Pierre-André Amar | |
|---|---|
 Jean-Pierre-André Amar | |
| 40th President of the National Convention | |
| In office 5–20 April 1794 (1794-04-05 –1794-04-20) | |
| Preceded by | Jean-Lambert Tallien |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1755-05-11)May 11, 1755 |
| Died | 21 December 1816(1816-12-21) (aged 61) |
| Political party | The Mountain |
| Signature |  |
Jean-Pierre-André Amar orJean-Baptiste-André Amar (May 11, 1755 – December 21, 1816) was a French political figure of theRevolution andFreemason.
Born in a rich family of cloth merchants inGrenoble, Amar was the son of the former Director of the Mint.[1] He became alawyer for the localparlement in 1774. In 1786, he purchased the title ofTrésorier de France for the tax region of theDauphiné, which gave him a title in theFrench nobility, for 200,000livres.[2]
In 1789, he was one of the founders of the Grenoble patriotic society, which in December of that year published the first edition ofLa Vedette des Alpes.[3] In 1790, Amar was elected vice-president of the Grenoble directory, and became a deputy to theNational Convention for thedépartement ofIsère, and joinedThe Mountain, voting in favor ofLouis XVI'sexecution during his trial.
Sent on mission withJean-Marie François Merlino [fr] toAin andIsère in early 1793, he oversaw thelevée en masse of 300,000 soldiers brought about by the outbreak of theFrench Revolutionary Wars and he made widespread arrests of "counter-revolutionaries". After the ousting of theGirondists from the Convention in late May and early June 1793, Amar joined theCommittee of General Security on September 13.[4] He was, withMarc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier, one of its most influential members. He was noted for his attacks on theGirondists and his order in October 1793 to arrest the 46 deputies who had protested against the violence of The Mountain.[5] He also argued against women's rights by stating women "are hardly capable of lofty conceptions and serious cogitation". In doing so he kept them from gaining political rights.[6]
In November 1793 the Convention charged him, together withFabre D'Eglantine, with investigating theLiquidation Scandal.[7] Amar's investigations uncovered the fact that Fabre himself had been deeply involved in the fraud. The arrest of Fabre on January 13, 1794, helped precipitate the power struggle between his allyDanton andRobespierre. On March 16 Amar presented his report on the Liquidation Scandal to the convention, and on March 31 Amar was one of the Committee Members who signed the decree for the arrest of Danton.[8] However, Robespierre was sharply critical of Amar's report, which presented the scandal as purely a matter of fraud. Robespierre insisted that it was a foreign plot, demanded that the report be re-written, and used the scandal as the basis for rhetorical attacks on the foreign powers he believed were involved.[9] On July 23, 1794, Robespierre attacked Amar by name at a joint session of the Committees for his handling of the Liquidation Scandal.[10] Amar was involved in theThermidorian Reaction from its very beginning.
Arrested himself as a former partisan of Terror (April 2, 1795),[11] he benefitted from anamnesty on October 26. Amar then opposed the establishment of theFrench Directory in November, and in February 1796 he presented a petition from 'Patriots of '89' urging the re-establishment of price controls on basic foods. The Directory refused to consider it.[12] He took part in theconspiracy ofGracchus Babeuf early in 1796; tried by the Court inVendôme, he wasacquitted on May 26.
He retired from public life, and lived most of his remaining years in Isère andSavoie, discovering devotionalmysticism based on the works ofEmanuel Swedenborg. When the Bourbon dynasty returned to power, he was not banished like other members of the Convention[13] He died inParis.
Media related toJean-Pierre-André Amar at Wikimedia Commons
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