René-François Dumas, born 14 December 1753 in Jussey, in the bailiwick of Amont (now in

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Thermidor Thermidor () was the eleventh month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word ''thermal'', derived from the Greek word "thermos" (''heat''). Thermidor was the second month of the summer quarter (''mois d'ét� ...

) at Paris.

Biography

René-François was born of respectable parents, and well educated. In June 1790 Dumas founded a popular society in Lons-le-Saunier and became a member of the city council. In 1791 he was the mayor of Lons-le-Saunier. He became member of the " Society of the Friends of the Constitution", where he played a leading role, even occupying the presidency. On 26 September 1793, Dumas was appointed vice-president of the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (french: Tribunal révolutionnaire; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. It eventually became one of the ...

and involved in the trial of

Madame Roland Marie-Jeanne 'Manon' Roland de la Platière (Paris, March 17, 1754 – Paris, November 8, 1793), born Marie-Jeanne Phlipon, and best known under the name Madame Roland, was a French revolutionary, salonnière and writer. Initially she led a ...

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

and Madame du Barry. On 8 April 1794, three days after the execution of

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In August ...

and

Desmoulins Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. Desmoulins was tried and executed alongside Georges Danton when the Committee of ...

, he became the president of the court, taking over from

Martial Joseph Armand Herman Martial Joseph Armand Herman (29 August 1759, Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise – 7 May 1795, Paris) (guillotined), was a lawyer and a chief judge during the Reign of Terror. His most famous cases were against Marie Antoinette and Georges Danton. As the c ...

, who was appointed Foreign minister. In this quality, with

Fouquier-Tinville Antoine Quentin Fouquier de Tinville (, 10 June 17467 May 1795) was a French lawyer and public prosecutor during the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Biography Early career Born in Herouël, a village in the ''département'' of the Aisne, ...

as the

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

, he headed several major political trials in which defendants were sentenced to death. The trial of the "first conspiracy of the prisons" on 13 April considered in particular the general Arthur Dillon, the archbishop constitutional of Paris

Jean-Baptiste Gobel Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel (1 September 1727 – 13 April 1794) was a French Catholic cleric and politician of the Revolution. He was executed during the Reign of Terror. Biography Gobel was born in the town of Thann in Alsace to a lawyer t ...

, procureur syndic of the

Commune of Paris The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, and the widows

Marie Marguerite Françoise Hébert Marie Marguerite Françoise Hébert, née Marie Goupil (1756, Paris – 13 April 1794, Paris), was a figure in the French Revolution who died by guillotine during the Reign of Terror. Biography Marie Goupil was born in Paris to Jacques Goupil ...

and

Lucile Desmoulins Anne-Lucile-Philippe Desmoulins, born Laridon-Duplessis (18 January 1770 in Paris – 13 April 1794) was a French revolutionary, diarist, and author during the French Revolution. She was married to the revolutionary Camille Desmoulins. She was ...

. In June the tribunal put in force the

Law of 22 Prairial The Law of 22 Prairial, also known as the ''loi de la Grande Terreur'', the law of the Great Terror, was enacted on 10 June 1794 (22 Prairial of the Year II under the French Revolutionary Calendar). It was proposed by Georges Auguste Couthon but ...

. According to Adolphe Thiers their goal was to keep the prisons empty. According to Fouquier-Tinville, Dumas and Coffinhal, the vice-president of the tribunal, went each morning to see Robespierre and did what he told them to do, not what the Committee of Public Safety had decided. His last victim was the

Princess of Monaco Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

on 28 July. At four o'clock in the afternoon a charge of 45 convicts was sent to the guillotine on the

Place de la Nation The Place de la Nation (formerly Place du Trône, subsequently Place du Trône-Renversé during the Revolution) is a circle on the eastern side of Paris, between Place de la Bastille and the Bois de Vincennes, on the border of the 11th and 12t ...

, but was stopped on the way in the

Faubourg Saint-Antoine The Faubourg Saint-Antoine was one of the traditional suburbs of Paris, France. It grew up to the east of the Bastille around the abbey of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, and ran along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Location The Faubourg Saint-An ...

. Francois Henriot, general of the Parisian National Guard, accompanied the procession. In the evening of 9 Thermidor Dumas joined the insurrectionary Commune of Paris to obtain the release of

Maximilien de Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just (; 25 August 17679 Thermidor, Year II 8 July 1794, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a major figure of the Fr ...

, Couthon,

Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas (4 November 1764, Frévent, Pas-de-Calais – 28 July 1794, Paris) was a French politician and revolutionary. Biography The son of a notary, intendant to the prince de Rache, avocat to the parliament of 1789, co ...

and

Augustin Robespierre Augustin Bon Joseph de Robespierre (21 January 1763 – 28 July 1794), known as Robespierre the Younger, was a French lawyer, politician and the younger brother of French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre. His political views were simil ...

. In the morning of 10 Thermidor the whole group was arrested in the " Hôtel de Ville", taken to the

Conciergerie The Conciergerie () ( en, Lodge) is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which als ...

and tried. Fouquier-Tinville, who was considered to be biased, was replaced. In the early evening the group was guillotined on the Place du Révolution.La révolution française
by Sophie Wahnich, p. 123

Biography

References

Further reading