![J](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/J.N._D%C3%A9meunier_%281751-1814%29.jpg)
Jean-Nicolas Démeunier (sometimes Desmeuniers) (15 March 1751 – 2 February 1814) was a French author and politician.
Biography
Démeunier was born in
Nozeroy
Nozeroy () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Jura department
The following is a list of the 494 communes of the Jura department of France.
The commu ...
in the department of
Jura. He is the author of several historical essays, political and moral, and many translations of English travel books.
He attended his studies in his home province before his literary abilities earned him the attention of the royal court. Démeunier was appointed
Royal Censor and secretary to "Monsieur", the
Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
, who was the brother of King
Louis XVI
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 ...
, and the
King of France
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...
after the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
, an event that occurred only months after Démeunier's death.
French Revolution
Supporter of the French Revolution, he was elected (16 May 1789) by the
Third Estate
The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...
of the city of Paris to the
Estates General with 133 votes. When the
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
members of the
Constitutional Committee resigned mid-September 1789, he was one of the deputies selected to replace them. He served a turn as President (22 December 1789 – 3 January 1790) of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
.
It was as a member of the Constitutional Committee that Démeunier had the biggest impact. He presented to the Assembly on behalf of the Committee a report (7 March 1791) on the need for the ministerial responsibility, and later declared support (26 August 1791) for the eligibility of the members of the royal family to hold elective office. He would also promote the organization of the jury and the
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
.
After the session, Demeunier was elected administrator of the city of Paris (7 November 1791), but he resigned immediately in protest of the election of
Jerome Pétion as
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
.
He fled to the United States during the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...
.
Directory, Consulate, and Empire
Démeunier returned to France in 1796, and was candidate to the
French Directory
The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...
.
The
first Consul
The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Con ...
appointed Démeunier (4 Nivose VIII/25 December 1799) member of the
Tribunat
The was one of the four assemblies set up in France by the Constitution of Year VIII (the other three were the Council of State, the and the ). It was set up officially on 1 January 1800 at the same time as the . Its first president was the hi ...
at its inception; he became president of this assembly 2 January 1800. He was further elevated to the
Sénat conservateur
The (from French language, French: "Conservative Senate") was an advisory body established in France during the French Consulate, Consulate following the French Revolution. It was established in 1799 under the Constitution of the Year VIII f ...
28 Nivose X (18 January 1802).
He received further awards under
Napoleon
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 ...
, named to the
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
, first as Member 9 Vendémiaire XII (2 October 1803), then as commander 25 Prairial XII (14 June 1804), and finally as Grand Officer (30 June 1811). Démeunier was established
comte de l'Empire
As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles of nobility to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution.
Like many others, both before and since, Napoleon found that th ...
(26 April 1808).
Démeunier died months before the fall of Napoleon. He is interred in the
Panthéon
The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...
in Paris.
Lycée
Démeunier was particularly active in the management of the newly created ''Lycée'' of which "Monsieur", the Comte de Provence, was the principal
Maecenas
Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. During the rei ...
. This ''Lycée'' was created by combining the ''Musée de Paris'' with the ''Musée Scientifique''—both had been created by the ''Société Appolonienne''. The aim of these institutions was to provide good-quality education to the general public. After the return of Louis XVIII to Paris, the Lycée remained active under the name "Athénée Royal", until 1848.
Jean-Nicolas Démeunier may also be considered one of the key figures in the organisation of support for the American cause. For example, his ''L'Amérique indépendante, ou les différents constitutions de treize provinces'' (1790) was to be of great influence on the democratic experiments in Belgium in the few years preceding the French Revolution. (For a detailed discussion of events and relevant sources see Gorman 1925, reference below.)
The real significance of "''L'Amérique indépendante''" lay in the fact that it was published as a separate volume of Démeunier's contributions to
Charles Joseph Panckoucke
Charles-Joseph Panckoucke (; 26 November 1736 – 19 December 1798) was a French writer and publisher. He was responsible for numerous influential publications of the era, including the literary journal ''Mercure de France'' and the ''Encyclopéd ...
's "
Encyclopédie méthodique
The ''Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières'' ("Methodical Encyclopedia by Order of Subject Matter") was published between 1782 and 1832 by the French publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke, his son-in-law Henri Agasse, and the latter's ...
", which had been corrected and debated in correspondence with
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
.
Writings
* L'Esprit des usages et des coutumes des différens peuples, ou observations tirées des voyageurs et des historiens (3 volumes, 1776). Réédition : J.-M. Place, Paris, 1988.
* Encyclopédie méthodique. Économie politique et diplomatique, partie dédiée et présentée à monseigneur le baron de Breteuil, ministre et secrétaire d'État, &c. Par M. Démeunier, avocat, & censeur royal (4 volumes, 1784–1788)
* Essai sur les États-Unis (1786).
* Des Conditions nécessaires à la légalité des États-Généraux (1788).
* Avis aux députés qui doivent représenter la Nation dans l'Assemblée des États-Généraux (1789).
* L'Amérique indépendante, ou Les différentes constitutions des treize provinces qui se sont érigées en républiques sous le nom d'États-Unis de l'Amérique. Avec un précis de l'histoire de chaque province, & des remarques sur les constitutions, la population, les finances & l'état dans lequel les provinces se trouvent actuellement (1790).
References
* Daniel Ligou ed., ''Dictionnaire de la franc-maçonnerie'' (Paris : Presses universitaires de France, 1987).
* Roger Hahn, ''The anatomy of a scientific institution: The Paris Academy of Sciences, 1666–1803'' (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1971).
* Howard C. Rice Jr., ''Thomas Jefferson's Paris'' (Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1976).
* Thomas Kiely Gorman, ''America and Belgium: a study of the influence of the United States upon the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790'' (London : T. F. Unwin,
925.
External links
*
Jefferson to DémeunierDémeunier: L'Esprit des Usages et Coutumes des differents peuples (French text)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demeunier, Jean-Nicolas
1751 births
1814 deaths
18th-century French writers
18th-century French male writers
18th-century French politicians
Members of the Sénat conservateur
Les Neuf Sœurs
Burials at the Panthéon, Paris
French encyclopedists