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Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas | |
|---|---|
 Philippe Francois Joseph Le Bas sketch byJacques-Louis David. | |
| Member of theNational Convention forPas-de-Calais | |
| In office 6 September 1792 – 31 May 1794 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas (1764-11-04)4 November 1764 |
| Died | 28 July 1794(1794-07-28) (aged 29) |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Political party | The Mountain |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Philippe Le Bas |
| Parent |
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Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas (4 November 1764,Frévent,Pas-de-Calais – 28 July 1794, Paris) was a French politician and revolutionary.
The son of a notary, intendant to the prince de Rache, avocat to the parliament of 1789, companion and collaborator ofSaint-Just, Le Bas was elected député to theNational Convention for the Pas-de-Calais in 1792, sitting among theMontagnards. A discreet, cold, and loyal representative, he voted for KingLouis XVI's death and against the sentence at his trial (i.e., against the people's appeal). Le Bas andDuquesnoy were delegated to thearmée du Nord in August 1793, and Le Bas proceeded with the arrest of generalsRichardot andO'Moran for inability. A member of theCommittee of General Security, he was among those close toRobespierre,Couthon, andSaint-Just.
He and Saint-Just were made the Convention's commissioners to the armies and set out on this mission to eastern France, where he reorganized the army after its reverses atWissembourg. Saint-Just and Le Bas were also later sent to reorganize the armée du Nord by theCommittee of Public Safety in the face of an attempted return by Austrian forces afterWattignies - it was this reorganisation that made possible the victory atFleurus. Since 1 June he was appointed as the director of the "École de Mars", formerly known as theÉcole Militaire.
Faithful to Robespierre,Augustin Robespierre and Le Bas demanded to share his fate. The five deputies were taken to theCommittee of General Security, questioned and then escorted to different prisons; LeBas to theConciergerie. The mayor of the Commune ordered the janitors to refuse any member of the Convention. LeBas, as well as the others gathered in theHôtel de Ville on9 Thermidor. When the anti-Robespierristes underBarras andLéonard Bourdon broke into the main room of the townhall (where Le Bas had taken refuge with Maximilien Robespierre, Augustin Robespierre, St-Just and Couthon) LeBas died from suicide by pistol in the early morning of 10 Thermidor.
He married Elisabeth Duplay, daughter ofMaurice Duplay, Robespierre's landlord in Paris, and their son wasPhilippe Le Bas (1794–1860), who would beLouis-Napoléon Bonaparte's preceptor until 1827 then director of the library of theSorbonne (from 1844 to 1860), a member of theAcadémie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (1838–60) and president of theInstitut de France (from 1858).
