François Aubry (12 December 1747 – 17 July 1798) was a French soldier who became a member of the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the e ...

during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. At first a moderate supporter of the revolution, he moved towards a monarchical position and worked to overthrow the

Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...

. When the Directory seized power, he was arrested and deported to

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

. He escaped, but died in

Dutch Guiana Dutch Guiana may refer to: * Dutch colonisation of the Guianas, the coastal region between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in South America * Surinam (Dutch colony), commonly called "Dutch Guiana" after the loss of other large colonies in the area ...

soon after.

Early years

François Aubry was born in Paris on 12 December 1747. He joined the army, and in 1789 was a captain of artillery. He declared his support for the ideas of the revolution. He was appointed mayor of Nîmes in 1790.

Girondin member

On 6 September 1792 he was elected a member of the National Convention for the department of

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by Republican forces against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-Spa ...

he fell out with

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, since he disagreed with his plan of attack. On returning to the convention, he attended the trial of King

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

. He declared that Louis was guilty of conspiracy against freedom and attacks against the general security of the State, and voted in favor of the death penalty. On 3 August 1793 Aubry decreed that in all towns all the bells except one would be available to the Minister of War. Aubry signed a protest against the

Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793 ), during the French Revolution, started after the Paris commune demanded that 22 Girondin deputies and members of the Commission of Twelve should be brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Jean-Paul Marat led the attack on the representatives in ...

, and was arrested and detained until

9 Thermidor The Coup d'état of 9 Thermidor or the Fall of Maximilien Robespierre refers to the series of events beginning with Maximilien Robespierre's address to the National Convention on 8 Thermidor Year II (26 July 1794), his arrest the next day, and ...

(27 July 1794).

Later career

After 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794), Aubry returned to the Convention and succeeded Carnot in the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

for military affairs. In this position he dismissed many officers accused of terrorism, including Massena and Bonaparte. He took a very active part in suppressing the

revolt of 1 Prairial Year III The insurrection of 1 Prairial Year III was a popular revolt in Paris on 20 May 1795 against the policies of the Thermidorian Convention. It was the last and one of the most remarkable and stubborn popular revolts of the French Revolution. After ...

(20 May 1795). Accused on that basis at the meeting of 14 Thermidor Year III (1 August 1795), he left the Committee and allied himself closely with the

Clichy Clichy may refer to: In Paris Region, France * Canton of Clichy, an administrative division of the Hauts-de-Seine department, in northern France * Clichy-sous-Bois, commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis ''département'' * Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, comm ...

monarchical club, where he dominated the counter-revolutionary movement and became the most influential member. Aubry was among the members of the Convention who entered the

on 23 Vendémiaire year IV (15 October 1795). An arrest warrant was issued against him for his unconstitutional attitude on

13 Vendémiaire 13 Vendémiaire Year 4 in the French Republican Calendar (5 October 1795 in the Gregorian calendar) is the name given to a battle between the French Revolutionary troops and Royalist forces in the streets of Paris. This battle was part of the ...

(5 October 1795), but was not executed. He supported

Armand-Gaston Camus Armand-Gaston Camus (2 April 17402 November 1804), French revolutionist, was a successful lawyer and advocate before the French Revolution. He was the son of Pierre Camus, a lawyer in the Parlement of Paris. Camus is considered the founder of ...

's proposed general amnesty. He opposed the law which declared nobles and relatives of emigrants ineligible for public office, and actively worked to overthrow the Directory. After the

coup of 18 Fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup wa ...

(4 September 1797) he was arrested and transported to

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

, from where he was shipped to

. He escaped from Cayenne in a small boat with

Jean-Charles Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (, 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to h ...

and others, and landed in

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

, Dutch Guiana. He died there soon after on 17 July 1798.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:AUBRY, Francois 1747 births 1798 deaths Politicians from Paris Girondins People on the Committee of Public Safety Deputies to the French National Convention Regicides of Louis XVI Members of the Council of Five Hundred French soldiers